The Fallen Government's White Elephant Projects in The Name of Development

 

Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Tunnel under the Karnaphuli River in Chittagong, popularly known as the Karnaphuli Tunnel, is one of the unusually expensive projects implemented during the ousted Awami League government of Bangladesh. The project, built at a cost of around Tk 10,700 crore, has raised questions about the huge losses incurred at the outset. Since the inauguration of this tunnel on October 28 last year, against the expenditure of about Tk. 37.50 lakh, the income is only Tk. 10.37 lakh and the daily loss of the government from this huge project is more than Tk. 27.09 lakh. The income is almost four times more than the expenditure. The tunnel authority had published a study predicting an average of 18,485 vehicles per day in 2024 following the tunnel's opening in 2023, but by October 2024 the average daily traffic was only 3,910, less than a quarter of the published study. In fact, an unrealistic and fictitious study was published to prove the validity of this project, which had no resemblance to reality.

Similarly, commercial train movement on the Dohazari Cox's Bazar railway line started on December 1 last year. Currently two trains are running from Dhaka to Cox's Bazar and another from Chittagong to Cox's Bazar. In total, running trains on this route has earned about Tk. 70 crore till last September, on the contrary, about Tk. 45 crore have been spent on running the trains, i.e. the profit amount is about 25 crores. But this 101 km long project has been constructed with the loan of Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the loan installments have already started from 2022. According to data from the government's Economic Relations Department (ERD) and ADB, the loan installments currently amount to about $3.5 billion (equivalent to about Tk 420 crore at current exchange rates) annually. In 2028, the installment payment amount will increase to about $5.5 million annually. About 2 percent interest has to be paid separately along with loan installments and the loan taken for this project has to be repaid till 2048.

According to the information published recently in the media, the construction cost of most of the mega projects implemented in the country such as four to six lane highways, expressways, flyovers, railways, railway bridges, airport terminals during the 15 and a half year rule of the last Awami League government is among the similar projects in the world, highest or one of the highest. The issues have repeatedly come up as reviewed by various global organizations including the World Bank, Asian Development Bank (ADB). In this regard, Padma Bridge is one of the most talked about projects in the country. The project has cost Tk. 32,605 crore. According to the related experts of this sector, the construction of the bridge has cost two to three times more money than usual. Apart from this, Rooppur nuclear power plant, tunnel under Karnaphuli River, Bangabandhu-1 satellite launch, elevated expressway are significant white elephant projects of the previous government.

Padma Bridge Rail Link is the largest project in terms of money in the history of Bangladesh's communication infrastructure sector. Among all the 'non-urban heavy rail' projects implemented in the Asia-Pacific region between 2010 and 2018, this project has the highest construction cost per km. Similarly, Dhaka's 'MRT Line-6' is the most expensive in Asia to build the first metro rail. Dhaka's second (MRT Line-1) and third (MRT Line-5, Northern Route) metro rail cost more per km. The construction cost of Dhaka-Mawa-Bhanga Expressway per km is over Tk 200 crore, which is the highest in the world. The Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) under implementation between the airport and Gazipur is the most expensive in the world.

In the neighboring country India, the construction of one km of eight-lane national or provincial road costs about $1.5 million. Construction cost of two-lane roads per km for district and urban areas is about $6 lakh and marginal roads cost about $4 lakh per km. India is able to build roads at a lower cost than many countries in the world including Asia due to various reasons including proper planning, transparency in implementation, skilled manpower, availability of construction materials and machinery, use of innovative technology. But in Bangladesh it is the opposite. The World Bank says that road construction in Bangladesh is the most expensive, $2.5 million to $19 million are being spent to build four or more lane roads here. The World Bank blamed high levels of corruption, late completion of work and lack of competition in the bidding process for the high construction costs.

Bangladesh is ahead of other countries in the construction of not only roads but also metro rail. The first metro in Delhi was built with one-third of the amount of money spent on the construction of Dhaka's first metro so far. Pakistan also built its first metro in Lahore at less than half the cost of Dhaka MRT-6. On the other hand, China has built the first metro at the lowest cost in the Asian continent.

The construction cost of the country's first metro in Shanghai is one-fifth of the construction cost of MRT-6 in Dhaka. Two metro rails are being built in two cities in Vietnam at a lower cost than Dhaka. The construction cost of the second and third metro rail under construction in Dhaka is more.

A railway bridge is being constructed parallel to the existing bridge on Jamuna river. The construction of this 4.80 km long railway bridge is costing Tk 3,496 crore per km. Analysis of the data shows that in terms of cost per km, this figure is much higher than the long and massive railway bridges in neighboring India and China. On the other hand, those concerned called the bus rapid transit project under construction from Dhaka airport to Gazipur as the most expensive in the world.

The related experts of this sector say that in the past 15 and a half years, in all the projects undertaken in Bangladesh, a kind of culture of inflating the project cost has been created. The cost of the projects is determined in such a way that they are mega-sized, creating scope for corruption by distributing project implementation responsibilities in a non-transparent process among own people. But this expenditure was supposed to be based on research and reality. How to build good infrastructure at low cost was not at all tried during the previous government. In response to the question of why Bangladesh can't build infrastructure at a low cost if the neighboring countries can build infrastructure, experts say that the projects that have been implemented in Bangladesh for the construction of bridges, expressways, metro rails, highways, railways, and those that are still in progress, are of the same technical quality as the projects implemented in the neighboring countries same as. But construction costs of similar projects in Bangladesh are much higher than in neighboring countries. Neighboring countries have done the same project at one-third of the extraordinary amount spent by the previous government in implementing these projects. If neighboring countries can build metro rails, roads, bridges, expressways at low cost, why Bangladesh can't, it's a big question. In this case, where the investment is heavy and the cost is unusual, there is an opportunity for those who try to benefit from the project personally. The same happened in Bangladesh. Meanwhile, pictures of various irregularities, corruption and looting of the powerful people of the previous government are gradually being published in the media.

Economists of the country have always expressed concern over the unbridled borrowing from domestic and foreign sources of white elephant mega projects in the name of development and burdening the people. Sheikh Hasina did not pay heed to their concerns, but sometimes ridiculed them with contempt. She was enthusiastic about taking up various projects and taking loans on his own initiative and with the encouragement of his flatterers. Some of the projects which were taken up by corruption include- Construction of Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant, Tunnel under Karnaphuli River, Bangabandhu-1 Satellite Launch Project, Elevated Expressway Construction Project etc. For these projects, the Sheikh Hasina government took short-term high-rate loans with tough conditions from various donor organizations and countries including India, China, and Russia. Those concerned say that Sheikh Hasina has escaped, but she has sunk the country and the country's economy. She put the country's economy in a debt trap and put it at extreme risk. All the white elephant mega projects undertaken in the name of development in the last 15 and a half years while in power, were all undertaken with the aim of misappropriation and looting by the fallen government.


Md. Zillur Rahaman is a
banker and a columnist.