Land ministry's Tk 7.77b ‘Gucchagram-Phase III’ project proposal sent back

The Planning Commission (PC) has sent back the Land Ministry's project proposal on "Gucchagram - Phase III" worth Tk 7.77 billion, attributing reasons to inclusion of unnecessary components, inflated costs for goods and services, and inadequate identification of targeted beneficiaries.

The Development Project Proposal (DPP) for the project --Climate Victims Rehabilitation Project--has not specified how many homeless families will be rehabilitated in each upazila, Officials concerned said.

The decision was taken at a recent meeting of the Project Evaluation Committee (PEC) under the Agriculture, Water Resources and Rural Institutions Division of the Planning Commission, they mentioned.

An official, who attended the meeting, said if the proposal is revised in line with PEC recommendations, the total project cost could be reduced by about Tk 2.0 billion, while still achieving the goal of rehabilitating around 20,000 landless and homeless families across the country.

The Commission has suggested that beneficiaries have to be selected at district and upazila levels based on the number of landless and homeless families and the availability of government khas land, and that the project is to be resubmitted accordingly, the official added.

Apart from the Land Ministry, the Prime Minister's Office, the Ministry of Liberation War Affairs, the Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief; several other agencies have already undertaken initiatives for rehabilitation of landless and homeless families.

"Many previous projects were lost to river erosion due to poor site selection, while others were implemented in locations that were not suitable for habitation," he said.

Keeping these in view, the PC has recommended revision of DPP to avoid erosion-prone areas, prefer sites near growth centers, and include detailed cadastral information (dag and khatian) for each plot, he added.

Available documents reveal that the Land Ministry's proposal aims to construct 20,000 housing units and latrines on government khas land to rehabilitate landless, homeless, and address-less families.

The project also aims to ensure access to safe drinking water through tube wells, provide electricity connections, offer skill development training, provide soft loans, and facilitate handover of legal ownership documents.

According to the project proposal, Bangladesh is a highly vulnerable country to natural disasters with floods, cyclones, storms, and river erosion recurring across the country every year.

Many families often lose their lands due to river erosion and other causes.

"In this context, a total of 127,873 uprooted, landless, and homeless families have been rehabilitated on government khas land from July 1988 to June 2024 under the Ministry of Land," an official source said, adding that the proposed project is a continuation of the ongoing rehabilitation efforts.

In the project proposal, Tk 200 million has been sought for training and Tk 500 million for loans to support the socio-economic development of rehabilitated families through the Bangladesh Rural Development Board (BRDB).

Mentioning that training and disbursement of loans fall outside the Land Ministry's jurisdiction, the PEC recommended removing such components from the project.

Instead, the authorities were also advised to coordinate with relevant departments to connect beneficiaries with socio-economic support.

Under the project, the estimated construction cost for per house is Tk 3, 04,500 for semi-pucca houses in plain areas, Tk 2,84,500 for specially designed tin-shed houses in char areas, and Tk 2,65,000 for 'machang' houses in hilly regions.

The designs were tailored to suit the natural characteristics and living conditions of each area, said a land ministry official.

However, the estimated cost per house under the proposed project is higher than that of ongoing Asrayan projects implemented by the Chief Adviser's Office.

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