Justification to be sought for very high consultancy costs

The Local Government Division (LGD) has proposed spending over Tk 1.07 billion on consultancy services for a project that involves repairing flood-damaged infrastructures and building shelters in six districts to mitigate future disaster impacts.

The districts are Noakhali, Feni, Cumilla, Lakshmipur, Chattogram, and Moulvibazar.

The proposed consultancy costs account for over 5 per cent of the total project budget estimated at Tk 21.40 billion.

"The average monthly salary for each consultant has been proposed at Tk 361,549, while some will receive over Tk 1 million, to comply with the development partner's conditions," said a senior planning commission official.

The official also said the projects' proposed activities are the regular work of the government offices concerned, which is why the number of consultants and their monthly salaries should be reduced further to justified levels.

Meanwhile, for another Tk 6.6 billion project, the Ministry of Water Resources has proposed spending 8.6 per cent (Tk 567.4 million) on rehabilitating riverbanks, dams, regulators, and excavating canals in the six districts.

Officials said the planning commission scheduled separate meetings of the Project Evaluation Committee (PEC) for today (Wednesday) to analyse three project proposals from the LGD, the Ministry of Agriculture, and the Ministry of Water Resources.

Officials of the planning commission, the Implementation Monitoring and Evaluation Division (IMED), the Economic Relations Division (ERD), and the project-related ministries will attend the meetings to be chaired by Dr Neyamat Ullah Bhuiyan, member (senior secretary) of the Agriculture, Water Resources and Rural Institutions Division under the planning commission.

The combined estimated costs of the three projects are Tk 30.80 billion. Of the amount, Tk 26.43 billion will come from the World Bank and the remaining Tk 4.38 billion will be spent from the government exchequer.

The proposals also revealed the LGD proposed Tk 200 million to recruit project officials through outsourcing, which contradicts the decision of the planning commission on avoiding outsourcing officials for development projects.

The water resources ministry also sought substantial allocations to outsource officials.

Md Sayduzzaman, chief (additional secretary) at the planning commission, said, "The commission has identified abnormally high allocations for consultants and some other components. The PEC meeting would ask for justification for some of the components, including consultants."

He also said the meetings would recommend cutting the number of consultants and reducing their monthly salaries to justified levels.

Officials said the World Bank consented to provide $250 million (Tk 30 billion) in support to repair the damage done in the August 2024 floods.

The Local Government Engineering Department (LGED), the Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB), the Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation (BADC), the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE), and the Department of Disaster Management (DDM) will utilise the fund for several projects.

The World Bank would finance the projects from its concessional loan window International Development Association (IDA), said a high ERD official.

He also said both the government and the World Bank are positive about the funding and the official negotiation would start after the PEC meetings.

Some 5.8 million people in the south-eastern region were affected by the floods and more than 1.0 million were cut off, according to the National Disaster Response Coordination Centre (NDRCC).

Reports also indicate 502,501 people were displaced.

In the six most-affected districts, rural roads, agricultural fields, and fishponds were submerged, disrupting essential access and severely impacting livelihoods.

An estimated 296,852 hectares of crops were affected by the floods, with initial government assessments showing losses of $122 million in fisheries and $34 million in livestock.

Additionally, over 7,000 schools were closed, affecting 1.75 million primary students. Overcrowded temporary shelters raised safety concerns, particularly for women and girls.

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