JS committee slams LGD for project delays

A parliamentary body yesterday expressed strong resentment over repeated delays and cost rises in almost all projects under the Local Government Division.

The Parliamentary Committee on Estimates during a meeting at the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban said a project to build important bridges on rural roads started in 2017.

In the beginning, the project duration was four and a half years, which was later revised to seven years. With the time extension, the estimated cost has gone up from Tk 3,900 crore to Tk 6,400 crore.

So far, only 18 percent of the project work has been done.

Including this, most projects under the Local Government Division are going on at a slow pace, observed the parliamentary committee.

It asked the Ministry of LGRD and Cooperatives to submit a report explaining the delays in the project implementations.

Meeting sources said the committee had asked for information on the projects a few days ago but the ministry provided it Tuesday night. For this, the committee expressed discontent yesterday.

At the meeting, the committee members questioned why everything is not properly reviewed in the beginning and why most of the projects are being revised repeatedly.

Project directors should take the responsibility for the increase in time and cost, if necessary, disciplinary action should be taken against them, the committee also said.

Emerging from the meeting, Abdus Shahid, chairman of the committee, said they received information on 185 projects. Progress of many projects are almost zero.

He also said lawmakers have laid foundations of a lot of projects, which have hardly seen any progress. The committee has asked the ministry to complete the projects and submit a report within three months.

It has also asked for information on project revisions.

Shahid, a ruling Awami League lawmaker, said only one and a half years are left before the completion of the present government's tenure. "It will give us a bad name if we fail to implement the development projects within this time."