Revised ADP: Allocations up for some mega projects, down for others

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Cox Gazette April 10, 2020, 11:21 PM

The government is going to decrease allocations for some mega projects and increase for a few others in the revised Annual Development Programme. 

The Padma bridge, the Padma bridge rail link, the metro rail and the Rooppur nuclear power plant will see a drop in allocations while Karnaphuli Tunnel, Dohazari-Cox's Bazar rail line, Matarbari 1200-megawatt coal-fired power plant and the improvement of Joydevpur-Chandra-Tangail-Elenga Road to a 4-lane Highway will get more funds.

The revised ADP with an outlay of Tk192,921 crore will be placed before a meeting of the National Economic Council today for its final approval.  Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will preside over the meeting to be held at the NEC auditorium in the capital's Sher-e-Bangla Nagar area.

The government will trim the ADP size by Tk9,800 crore from Tk202,721 crore initially allocated for the current fiscal year owing to complexities over land acquisition and tender invitation, and lack of efficiency in project implementation. 

The Padma Multipurpose Bridge Project is going to be allocated Tk4,015 crore which is T1,355.69 crore lower than the original allocation of Tk5,370.69 crore.

Bridges division officials said about one-third of the Chinese workers of the project could not join their work as they were either kept in quarantine or not allowed to leave their country.

Project Director Shafiqul Islam said, "Work on the Padma bridge site could not be carried out in January and February as per the plan. The implementation speed has slowed down greatly."

The allocation for Padma rail link project will also drop by Tk698 crore from Tk3,995 crore.

The allocation for the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) line-6) will be reduced to Tk4,226.73 from the original allocation of Tk7212.63 crore. 

Additionally, the allocation for the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant project will drop by Tk134 crore from the original allocation of Tk14,980 crore in the revised ADP.

On the other hand, despite the absence of 288 Chinese technical personnel, allocation for the Karnaphuli Tunnel project will rise about 15 percent to Tk1549.08 crore in the revised ADP. 

In the revised ADP, the newly-approved projects – MRT Line-1 and MRT Line-5 (north) – will get Tk487.84 crore and Tk140 crore in fresh allocations respectively. 

Planning Minister MA Mannan said there is not much time left in the current fiscal year. The implementation speed of many projects is very good. But work on some projects is being affected for the coronavirus outbreak. 

"When the situation becomes normal, we will run project works in double shifts," he added. 

In the absence of foreign engineers at the Matarbari coal-fired plant, the allocation for it in the revised ADP will increase by Tk179 crore. The original allocation was Tk3056 crore.

With no headway in acquiring land for the Maheshkhali power hub for the last three years, the project has been given a token fund of Tk1 lakh to help it survive.

The improvement of Joydevpur-Chandra-Tangail-Elenga Road to a 4-lane Highway will see a rise in allocation by 33 percent to Tk1,000 crore. 

On the other hand, the allocation for Elenga-Hatikumrul-Rangpur 4-lane highway will increase by Tk119 crore. The original allocation was Tk1050 crore.

The Dohazari-Cox's Bazar-Gundum rail line construction project will see a Tk30 crore hike in allocation with the original amount of Tk1,105 crore. 

Dr Ahsan H Mansur, executive director of Policy Research Institute, said coronavirus is now slowing down in China. The problem will be solved within one or two months.

When the Chinese experts arrive, project works will be accelerated after keeping them in quarantine for a certain period.