Despite being planned as a two-and-a-half-year project of Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB), it has now stretched over a period of 10 years, with an average progress rate of less than 30 per cent.
Such circumstances persist in the BPDB prepaid metering project for distribution in Cumilla and Mymensingh zones.
This situation is undermining the commitment to deliver cost-effective electricity to the populace and diminish system losses. The information has been derived from a recently published report by the Implementation Monitoring and Evaluation Division (IMED).
According to the IMED report, the project's progress has been impeded due to multiple factors, such as the delayed approval of the Detailed Project Proposal (DPP), challenges with consultant appointments and disagreements, protracted meter installation processes, delays in contractor appointments, and the sluggish release of funds.
Despite granting extensions until 2024 for several projects, it is unlikely that this particular project will reach completion within that timeframe.
The state owned IMED under the Ministry of Planning is evaluating the qualitative impact of ongoing and completed government projects. The prepaid metering project for distribution in Comilla and Mymensingh Zones was submitted to the Executive Committee for National Economic Council (ECNEC) in 2013, with a budget of Tk 132 crore and 49.22 lakh, aimed at curbing system losses and ensuring uninterrupted power supply.
Initially, the project was scheduled to run from July 2013 to December 2015. It underwent three subsequent extensions until December 2020, all without incurring additional costs.
A total of Tk34.27 lakh has been disbursed during various fiscal years until May 2023 in the course of the project. The financial progress of the project stands at 20.75 per cent, while the actual progress has reached at 35 per cent.
Based on the Detailed Project Proposal (DPP), the plan was to install a total of 1,50,575 prepaid meters, comprising 1,46,000 single-phase meters and 4,575 three-phase meters. The project's action plan was not effectively executed. A comprehensive assessment reveals that due to the flawed action plan formulation, the project received approval for a 2.5-year implementation period. However, the project cost underwent three extensions and one revision, resulting in a total extension of 11 years, the IMED report reads.
IMED attributes the sluggish progress of the project to the delay in approving the initial Detailed Project Proposal (DPP). Despite the project being initiated in July 2013, it wasn't until November 2013 that ECNEC passed the proposal. As a result, more than four months passed before the main project activities commenced. This pattern of delays is not unique to this project but is observed in various other projects across Bangladesh as well.
In addition to other factors, one of the primary causes behind the project's delay is the intricacies surrounding the appointment of consultants. It took three years and four months after the project's approval for negotiations to be carried out with the sole bidder, Fichtner/UDS, and for BPDB to finalize the consultant selection.
Subsequently, when appointing the turnkey contractor for the project, it was discovered that additional tasks needed to be undertaken, which were not initially specified in the original contract with the consultant.
The consulting company requested extra funds, leading to a dispute between BPDB and the consulting firm Fichtner/UDS, further delaying the project. Moreover, after determining the effective date, the consulting firm submitted the Technology Assessment Report, further extending the project's duration.
