As Bangladesh is now preparing for dual graduation, issues related to public infrastructures are becoming increasingly important for their developmental implications. Implementation of infrastructure calls for investing a substantial amount of financial resources. Before investing in any Public Infrastructure Projects (PIPs), these must undergo in-depth examination to determine if these are economically viable and would generate the expected internal rate of return to justify the investment.
A dialogue was organized on 29 June 2022, on the theme of ‘Implementation of Public Infrastructure Projects in Bangladesh: Ensuring good value for money’. The objective was to discuss the issues of governance of PIP implementation in Bangladesh, attendant challenges and how a comprehensive framework can be developed to ensure good governance. In this backdrop, the OECD framework was taken as a reference point in the particular context of Bangladesh. The presentation was based on a research work that was carried out by Professor Mustafizur Rahman, Distinguished Fellow, CPD, and his team. The work was supported by The Asia Foundation, which was also a joint organizer of the dialogue.
The dialogue was chaired by Dr Fahmida Khatun, Executive Director of CPD, where M A Manan, MP, Hon’ble Minister for Planning, Government of Bangladesh, was the Chief Guest. Dr MD Abdus Shahid, MP, Chairman Parliamentary Standing Committee on Estimates and Engineer Enamul Haque, MP, Parliamentary Standing Committee on Ministry of Road Transport & Bridge, were the Special Guests.
In her welcome statement, Dr Fahmida Khatun, noted that only projects which generate the expected internal rate of return should be selected. The project directors should be appropriately qualified and experienced and should ensure that PIP implementation meets international standards. She also suggested that a separate cadre of government officials should be created for managing PIPs with high degree of professionalism.
The keynote presenter, Professor Mustafizur Rahman, noted that, PIPs, both physical and social, are the key to Bangladesh’s development. He observed that time delays lead to cost escalation which ends up in reducing the rates of return significantly. He underscored the importance of maintaining high quality of Developmental Projects Proforma/Proposal (DPPs), emphasizing the need for complying with the rules of E-Procurement. He recommended that, with some amendments, the OECD Framework, with its 10 pillars and 47 indicators, could serve as an important reference point for raising the quality of implementation of PIPs in Bangladesh. He also recommended that in order to adjust to the needs of Bangladesh, adequate legal support, introducing APAs at micro level, implementing IMED recommendations and strengthening the monitoring and evaluation of PIP implementations should be ensured.
The designated panelist Rizwan Rahman, President, Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI), said that the monitoring and evaluation must be strengthened and accountability should be prioritized. He recommended that experts from private sectors should be included in the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) projects since they can add more value and can strengthen the implementation of the PPPs. He focused on the financing of the PIPs and suggested that infrastructure bonds should be floated for financing the PIP implementations since these call for very large investment. Along with investment, the quality of implementation should be ensured and it should be monitored if the outcomes of the project are meeting the expectations. He also agreed that citizens’ engagement in monitoring and evaluation must be strengthened. He noted that in preparing projects, foreign investment, local investment and PPP should be identified in the National Budget as well.
Another designated panelist Dr M. Masrur Reaz, Chairman, Policy Exchange of Bangladesh, stated that the good governance framework is crucially important since Bangladesh’s infrastructure and financing needs over the next years will be rising at an accelerated pace. He felt that the OECD Framework can act as a good reference point for Bangladesh which will help to attain the Vision 2041. He suggested that feasibility studies of PIPs shouldn’t be done in haste as it may create difficulties at different stages of the project implementation. During the budget preparation, the right data, evidence and baseline information should be used. The exit plan of the PIPs should be created before the project is completed.
Dr MD Abdus Shahid, MP, remarked that the public resources spent on infrastructure are being wasted because of time and cost overrun. The funds also get wasted when the project directors use it to purchase additional cars in the name of monitoring. He also said that our goals of becoming a developed nation will be difficult to achieve if the quality of project implementation is not ensured and if they are not implemented within the planned time-frame.
Engineer Enamul Haque, MP, said that the project implementation is often not planned appropriately, and this leads to major problems. He mentioned that actions must be taken to avoid giving multiple projects to one project director. If too many projects are given to one project director, then he/she will not be able to allocate appropriate time to any of the projects. Also, a panel of project directors should be created so that if one project director retires, another can take over.
M A Manan, MP, said that the project director’s presence at the site of PIPs is essential but it has been observed that they are failing to comply with this. This is mainly because they are living in one district and the project that they are responsible for is in another district. He said that there are some rules and laws which are not essential and these cause delays in project implementation. He also mentioned that no new road projects will be approved now, rather, time and resources will be deployed more to maintain the existing projects.
The dialogue was also attended by academics and experts and media representatives, several of whom joined in a lively open discussion and gave their valuable suggestions on managing the challenges faced in implementing PIPs in Bangladesh. During the open floor discussion, the participants raised a number of issues including reasons for delay, frequent change of project directors, change in design of the projects, quality of construction materials, post-project monitoring and post implementation review, need for citizens’ involvement in monitoring implementation of PIPs, access to data, creation of web portals of government projects and other issues to improve quality of governance of PIP implementation in Bangladesh.