Little progress made on Tk22.58b development project in three yrs

Rajshahi Medical University (RMU) has made little progress on its Tk22.58 billion development project, with only a portion of the boundary wall completed in the last three years since land acquisition and project approval in July 2022, leaving a majority of the construction work yet to begin.

The Medical Education and Family Welfare Division of the Ministry of Health has proposed to the Planning Commission to extend the project deadline to December 2029, citing that tenders for the key works have yet to be invited, according to sources.

Under the project, physical works to deliver a 12-storey hospital with 1,200 beds on 94,288 square metres of floor space, a 10-storey non-clinical faculty building covering 22,237 square metres, administrative offices, and two separate 10-storey nurse hostels for male and female staff, along with other facilities, have yet to commence.

Originally estimated at Tk18.67 billion and scheduled for completion by June 2026, the project's timeline was first extended to July 2027, accompanied by a 20.94 per cent cost increase.

Approval of the latest proposal, without any additional cost escalation, would now allow 7.5 years for completion-nearly double the four-year period initially planned.

The Medical Education and Family Welfare Division told the Planning Commission that while completion of works under the project are scheduled until June 2027, the execution period for the 1,200-bed hospital is fixed at three years.

Since tender documents must specify completion timelines and the process from tender invitation to contract signing takes about six months, completing the hospital within the original timeframe would not be feasible.

In view of this, and to ensure smooth implementation of the 'Establishment of Rajshahi Medical University' project, the division has formally forwarded a proposal to extend the project deadline to December 2029-without any additional cost-for necessary action, reads the letter.

Analysis of the proposal shows that the project had spent Tk 7.70 billion by last June, accounting for 34.10 per cent of the total estimated cost.

However, Tk7.59 billion, or 98.55 per cent of the released funds, was used for land acquisition. Of the remaining funds, the project spent only Tk 112.03 million on purposes beyond land, representing just 0.49 per cent of the total estimated cost.

The government established the Rajshahi Medical University as the second such university of Bangladesh through issuing an Act in 2016.

The aim of the university was to expand medical education and ensure better treatment services in the northern region of the country.

"The university supervises and oversees a vast network 75 institutes from medical, dental, and nursing institutions across northern and western Bangladesh, including 13 government medical colleges, 11 non-government medical colleges, several government and private dental units, and nursing colleges," said a high official of the Rajshahi Medical University.

However, even a decade after its establishment, the university has yet to build any significant infrastructure, leaving it struggling to manage its own academic activities while supervising these affiliated institutions, he added.

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