Staff CorrespondentDhaka – The interim administration has allocated 5,152 crore taka for Chattogram sewerage system improvement as the south-eastern port city experience an awful sewerage system for decades.
The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) headed by Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus at a meeting on Monday gave the green light to the proposal for development of the sewerage system in the country’s second largest city (catchment 2 and 4 as mentioned in the project documents).
The council approved a total of five development projects involving an overall estimated cost of 5,915.99 crore taka. Among them, Chattogram sewerage system improvement gets the highest allocation.
Of the total cost for five projects, 1,095.94 crore take will come from the public exchequer while 4,787.50 crore taka from project assistance. The rest of amount of 32.55 crore taka will be contributed from the organizations’ own fund.
Of the approved five projects, two are new, including the Chattogram sewerage system improvement, while three are revised projects, according to officials attended the meeting.
Now time has come to make some policy adjustments in project implementation aspects, Planning Adviser Dr Wahiduddin Mahmud told reporters after the meeting.
The interim government has been focusing on making the development projects free from corruption and irregularities, but now they would go for speedy implementation of the schemes, he added.
He said the Annual Development Programme might be trimmed down as implementation performance in the first four months (July-October) of the financial year was slow.
The planning ministry will request all ministries and divisions to improve implementation of their projects. Corrupt practices must bring to an end, he said.
“I will personally write to the advisers about the implementation of the development projects,” added the adviser.
The government will make proportionately higher allocation in the education system in the next fiscal. It will focus more on educational equipment and on scientific and research materials, he added.
The ECNEC approves among other projects are Extension and improvement of network of eastern region grid, 1st revised, with an additional cost of 459.95 crore taka, and capacity building of universities in Bangladesh to promote youth entrepreneurs with 93.50 crore taka.
It also approved modern waste and released oil removal management of Mongla Port, 1st revised, with an additional cost of 110.15 crore taka and Emergency multi-sector Rohingya Crisis response project, 2nd revised, with an additional cost of 99.84 crore taka.
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