The ever-increasing demand for food is propelling the widespread use of chemical fertilisers, particularly urea. Over the past 18 years, urea fertiliser usage has steadily risen and has become crucial in ensuring the country’s food security.
The Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation (BCIC) currently manages 25 buffer warehouses with a total storage capacity of 3,07,000 tonnes of urea, which is distributed to farmers via a network of dealers.
However, there is a constant need to store approximately 8,00,000 tonnes of fertiliser. The excess fertiliser, stored in open spaces, often clumps together, leading to quality deterioration.
To address these issues, BCIC launched a project to construct 13 new buffer warehouses across various districts (1st revised), which would provide an additional storage capacity of around 1,30,000 tonnes. However, a significant portion of fertiliser still faces storage issues.
To this end, a project titled, “Construction of 34 Buffer Godowns in Different Places of the Country for Facilitating Reservation & Distribution of Fertiliser (1st Revised)” is being implemented by BCIC. The actual budget for this project was Tk 1,983 crore. However, as of May this year, the project has yet to see the construction of a single warehouse in six years.
Despite this lack of progress, the project’s cost has already surged by 25.2 per cent, bringing the budget to Tk 2,482 crore [revised budget] — with the completion date set between September 2018 and June 2025.
IMED report reveals major delays
The Implementation Monitoring and Evaluation Division (IMED) under the Ministry of Planning recently published a detailed report highlighting the extensive delays in the project. According to IMED, the project has failed to make substantial progress across nearly all parameters since its approval.
As of May this year, financial progress on the project stood at Tk 322.43 crore, which is only 12.98 per cent of the revised budget. Physical progress was reported at 33.5 per cent, with land acquisition being the only area where this figure applied. There has been no physical progress in other essential components of the project.
Despite the project being scheduled for completion by June 30, 2025, the delays in land acquisition, tender processes, and other critical areas make it likely that the deadline will be missed.
Land acquisition delays project
One of the core components of the project is the acquisition of land for the construction of 34 buffer warehouses across the country. However, in reality, there have been substantial delays in land acquisition.
Requests for the payment of land value were received three to four years after the approval of the original Development Project Proposal (DPP). Following these requests, there was an additional delay ranging from two to 22 months in setting the land price for each location.
The project aims to acquire a total of 169.13 acres of land. While land acquisition has been completed, including payments to owners, in 30 districts, the process is still ongoing in four districts: Madaripur, Patuakhali, Kurigram, and Kushtia.
IMED’s report outlined several complications that hindered the land acquisition process. These included issues related to electric poles, railway land, khas land, river-class land, road-related complexities and delays in securing environmental clearances. Additionally, some landowners submitted requests to withdraw their land from acquisition, further prolonging the process.
After the initial assessment of land values in 2017, it was observed that the requested values for land in various districts had increased significantly, approximately three to four years later. This has led to further strain on the project’s budget.
Lack of approved plans and funding delays
The approved DPP initially included a comprehensive annual work plan for the fiscal years 2018-2019 to 2024-2025 (a span of seven years). However, IMED found that annual work plans for these years were neither prepared nor approved, contributing to the six-year delay in the start of construction work for the warehouses.
The project was approved in September 2018, with an initial fund allocation of Tk 72.82 lakh for fiscal year 2018-2019. During that fiscal year, 100 per cent of the allocated funds were spent, though this constituted a mere 0.03 per cent of the total project budget.
In the subsequent fiscal years – 2019-2020, 2020-2021, and 2021-2022 – all allocated funds were utilised, but this still amounted to only 12.98 per cent of the project’s total budget. IMED noted that the project was placed on a low-priority list in fiscal year 2020-2021, contributing to further delays.
In fiscal year 2022-2023, no funds were allocated or released, as the revised DPP was still awaiting approval.
For fiscal year 2023-2024, Tk 45 crore was allocated in the Revised Annual Development Programme (RADP), of which Tk 13.95 crore (31 per cent of the allocation) was released. Despite this fund release, no expenditure has been recorded. In other words, no funds were spent on the project during FY23 or FY24.
Moreover, under this project, work related to 1,540 soil investigations and the procurement of furniture has not yet commenced. To date, only two vehicles have been purchased for the project.
IMED’s report highlighted the delayed release of funds, which has resulted in officials and employees not receiving their salaries and allowances on time. As a consequence, out of 28 personnel hired on an outsourcing basis, seven key personnel—six sub-assistant civil engineers and one office assistant—have left their positions, seeking other opportunities.
Tender process stagnates
Another critical issue identified in the IMED report was the stalling of the tender process. On January 19, 2022, tenders were invited for the first procurement package under the project. These tenders were then sent to the Cabinet Committee on Government Purchases (CCGP) for final approval on June 13, 2022.
However, since the project duration outlined in the original DPP expired on June 30, 2022, approval from the CCGP was not obtained. Consequently, the tender became invalid due to the expiration of its validity period.
A new tender was called for Package 1 on September 15, 2023. The first meeting of the tender evaluation committee was held on February 19, 2024, followed by a second meeting on March 13, 2024. However, the final evaluation of the tender has yet to be completed, according to IMED.
For Package 2 of the project, tenders were invited on April 21, 2022. However, the tenders submitted to the CCGP for final approval on September 11, 2023, were also cancelled due to the expiration of their validity period, similar to Package 1.
According to the revised DPP and RADP, the tender evaluation process is ongoing for 24 out of 34 sites across 18 lots under six packages.
IMED observed that the failure to invite tenders in a timely manner and the expiration of tender validity periods indicate serious deficiencies in the procurement capabilities of the project director and other relevant officials.
