Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday expressed displeasure over frequent revisions of projects and directed the authorities to take legal action against those responsible for flawed project designs that ultimately push up costs.

"Identify those whose negligence resulted in flawed designs of projects, wasting our time and money. Take legal action against them and apprise me of what action has been taken," she was quoted as saying by Planning Minister MA Mannan.

The PM's directives came after proposals for raising costs and time of two projects were placed at a meeting of the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec).

She joined the meeting virtually from the Gono Bhaban. Mannan briefed reporters later.

The proposals were approved by the Ecnec. The costs of the two projects went up to Tk 14,608 crore from 9,175 crore due to faulty designs and delays.

One of the projects was "Construction of Important Bridge on Rural Roads" taken up by the Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) in 2013.

The four-and-a-half-year project involving more than Tk 3,900 crore got the Ecnec nod in January 2017 and was scheduled to be completed in June this year.

As of now, the project has seen only 13 percent progress.

The other project is Dhaka Environment Sustainable Water Supply Project of Dhaka Wasa in Narayanganj's Gandhobpur area. The project was approved at the end of 2013 but it has so far seen only 28 percent progress.

The Ecnec yesterday approved the proposal for raising the project cost and also for extending the deadline for its completion.

Expressing dissatisfaction over the inclusion of new components in projects during revisions, the PM said, "It's a dangerous thing. A PD [project director] takes up the responsibilities of several projects and stays in Dhaka.

"It's often seen that a few items [components] get included during revisions of a project," the planning minister quoted the PM as saying.

"She then asked: 'didn't you [project directors] visit the project sites and see these things? Why these things were not raised earlier?'," Mannan said quoting the PM.

The premier also gave directives to prepare a master plan so that no bridge or culvert is constructed without proper assessment and feasibility study.

BRIDGE ON RURAL ROADS

The LGED took up the Tk 3,926-crore project to build 130 bridges in rural areas to boost the rural economy by creating commercial and employment opportunities which in turn will directly benefit the poor and reduce poverty.

The 130 bridges are supposed to be built in 94 upazilas of 40 districts. The sites were picked on the basis of lists provided by lawmakers.

However, LGED officials did not carry out any feasibility study on about 100 of the 130 bridges.

All the bridges were supposed to open by June this year but only 13 percent project work has been done so far.

The Ecnec yesterday approved extension of the deadline for project completion to June 2024 and also a Tk 2,530.43-crore rise in cost.

According to the project documents, the main reasons for the cost hike include increase in expenditure on land acquisition, and payment of salaries of consultants and staffers for an additional three years.

Planning Commission Member Zakir Hossain Akanda said some of the bridges to be built under the project are more than 100 metres long while many others are below 100 metres in length.

WASA PROJECT

The Tk 5,248.06-crore project, taken up by Dhaka Water Supply and Sewerage Authority (Wasa), was supposed to be completed in June 2020.

Now, the project cost has risen to Tk 8,151.07 crore, and the fresh deadline for its completion is June 2022.

According to the project documents, the key reasons behind the rise in cost are additional construction work, inclusion of new areas in the project, installation of 50 deep tube-wells, legal complications, appreciation of US dollar against taka and delay in land acquisition.

Besides, additional money has to be spent for various purposes, including payment of employees' salaries, consultancy fees and fuel costs.

Though the project was taken up in 2014, work began in 2018 due to problems in tender process and delay in land acquisition.

The documents show a 376-km pipeline was supposed to be set up under the project, but now it has to be extended by another 124 km for which an additional 24 months are needed.

About the cost, Planning Commission Member Mamun Al Rashid said Wasa lacked manpower with technical skills for the project, and this resulted in failure to estimate its actual cost.

Eventually the project cost has gone up, he added.