Huge public funds drained through misdeeds

Prolonged and corrupt processes of land valuation and acquisition and duplication of feasibility study on similar projects proved ploys for misuse of public funds during the past regime, a government-formed taskforce reports.

Some government agencies conducted feasibility studies on the same project by spending public funds, which is one of the reasons behind the misuse of the development funds too, it says about one instance of what went wrong on development front during the government of unseated premier Sheikh Hasina.

The taskforce, one of the panels formed by the current interim government under a massive reform recipe, has observed that government offices and agencies were involved in valuation of land prices at jacked-up rates, resulting in bloated project cost and waste of public tax money.

Some project-implementing agencies misused lands after acquisition as they had not used those rather diverted to other purposes, it adds.

The 'Re-strategising the Economy and Mobilizing Resources for Equitable and Sustainable Development' taskforce, headed by economist Dr KAS Murshid, dug out the drain on public funds in development-project implementation that involved numerous megaprojects worth billions.

The report was submitted a week ago with the finding of several reasons for the misuse of public funds "in the name of project implementation" during the past regime, toppled in the July-August student-mass uprising.

"Multiple agencies frequently conduct separate feasibility studies for a same project, leading to redundancy and resource wastage," reports the taskforce on their findings meant for reshaping economic and development strategies.

Usually, each of the government agencies is assigned for their designated project- implementation works under set guidelines which were found mostly violated over the last one and a half decades.

Roads and Highways Department (RHD) and Bangladesh Bridges Authority (BBA) conducted feasibility study on Dhaka-Chittagong expressway and on the Dhaka Ring Road project.

Feasibility study was conducted for Circular Rail by Bangladesh Railways (BR) and Embankment-cum-Eastern/Western Bypass Road project by Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB) and Bangladesh Army respectively, the report has mentioned in its findings.

Some feasibility studies are undertaken by agencies that "lack legal or operational authority, leading to jurisdictional inefficiencies", the taskforce has said, citing as an example the bridges' master plan undertaken by BBA bypassing RHD, and the subway -construction plan bypassing DMTCL.

"The process of valuing land, identifying affected individuals, and assessing losses like property, livelihoods, and the rehabilitation needs is time- consuming and frequently marred by corruption, fuelled by the prospect of lucrative compensation payments. The time constraints of land acquisition often lead to unethical practices," says the taskforce in its report.

The panel has identified that acquired lands were often diverted into non-project activities, such as constructing luxury bungalows, seven-star hotels, large-scale cantonments, or facilities like ports and shipyards, which might not align with the projects' objectives or intended purpose.

The report reads: "Foreign- funded projects often require very high land-acquisition costs due to their liberal land- acquisition and-resettlement guidelines, which are highly prone to abuse."

The taskforce has found a significant portion of the acquired land intended for service areas to support project construction, instead, having been used for purposes better suited to leased arrangements.

Also reportedly identified are conflicts between the executing agencies with ongoing or proposed projects which are leading to coordination challenges, resulting in time-and cost overruns.

Conflicts between BBA and BR in the Jamuna Bridge-and Padma Bridge-construction projects are referred to as instances to substantiate the taskforce observations.

Many projects themselves also have had conflicts which lead to the misuse of public funds and implementation delays, the report says.

The MRT-6 conflicts with Dhaka Elevated Expressway Project (DEEP), and DEEP also conflicts with RAJUK's Kuril Flyover and BR's Dhaka-Tongi 3rd & 4th track projects.

"Mayor Hanif Flyover and Mouchak-Moghbazar Flyover conflict with the Strategic Transport Plan (STP)-2004 master plan, which proposed all BRT and MRT projects, ultimately leading to the scrapping of the master plan."

And RAJUK's Jhilmil Flyover project conflicts with MRT-6, leading to its abandonment, and Dhaka- Ashulia Elevated Expressway conflicts with the MRT-6 extension project, the report concludes.

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