Accelerating ADP implementation

Annual Development Programme (ADP) is a very significant indicator for any economy, as the development projects included in a particular ADP document for a fiscal year have direct consequences on employment, public sector investment, and growth in economic output. For decades, Bangladesh has witnessed a lacklustre performance in implementing the ADPs. It has failed to fully implement its allocations or even revised allocations for lack of addressing the underlying problems, slowing the development activities. As a result, the share of public-sector investment to gross development projects (GDP) cannot meet the desired level. The country needs massive investment to implement its current five-year plan, to become a middle-income country, and impetus on project implementation to translate the Vision-2041. Thus, timely execution of projects and yearly ADPs need a further boost while bottlenecks holding the full implementation must be fixed.

According to a report published in this daily on Wednesday, the ADP implementation rate in the first seven months of the current fiscal year was 30.21 per cent of the yearly target. IMED data showed that the government had spent Tk 71,532.97 crore from July to January of FY22 out of the Tk 2,36,793 crore ADP allocation. As many as 1,591 projects are included in the ADP in this fiscal year. In the last fiscal year, the ADP implementation rate was 82.21 per cent. The government spent Tk 1,72,051 crore out of the Tk 2,09,272 crore earmarked for ADP that year while 1,946 projects were included in the ADP. State Minister for Planning Dr. Shamsul Alam said the government wants to implement development projects within the stipulated time frame, as reported in the news. “We want to ensure quality work while implementing projects. We will focus more on implementation as per the schedule. We will spend ADP allocations completely from the next fiscal year,” he further said.

It is to be noted that similar statements from top bosses of the planning ministry are often made concerning streamlining ADPs. And the failures occur each year. The government has to borrow huge funds from the bilateral and multilateral lending agencies to implement the development projects. And the debt-serving for such external funds also goes up for late implementation of projects. The scenario is frustrating, to say the least.

It is often reported that in the preparation and approval stages, many projects are included in the ADPs without a requisite feasibility study, logical framework, proper work plan, and procurement plan. During the implementation stage, weaknesses like the temporary appointment of project directors, the appointment of inexperienced project directors, lack of intensive monitoring and supervision by ministries and agencies concerned, taking a long time for land acquisition, and lack of annual financial and physical audits are prominent. In the post-implementation stage, required personnel are not appointed, maintenance of procured equipment is conspicuous by its absence, budget for maintenance cost is not provided and even project completion report is not furnished by the due date. Such perennial problems obstructing the implementation and transparency need to be fixed without further delay.

For decades, it has been a normal practice for ministries and divisions becoming serious in completing their projects and spending allocations against their development schemes at the fag end of financial years.

The authorities considered must stop the repetition of this for the sake of quality spending and proper implementation.

Hence, we suggest that the government become serious against the slow-project implementing bodies and agencies. Inclusion of unapproved projects in the ADPs that typically cause a delay in project implementation must be stopped. Transfers of project directors and other senior project officials make projects implementations suffer, resulting in project tenures and costs to raise. A pool of project directors with dynamic leadership quality among the public service may be created to kick-start projects without delay.