The Roads and Highways Department (RHD) has sought Tk 11,472 crores funds in additional to finance some ongoing projects ahead of the annual development programme (ADP) revision.
According to RHD sources, apart from projects, if they get the allocation they will also repair and maintain all roads and bridges across the country.
Besides, it has also been proposed to allocate Tk 28,690 crore in the upcoming fiscal year.
Ashma Akhter Jahan, Superintending Engineer of RHD, told media, "This money will be needed for smooth implementation of newly approved projects and upcoming new mega projects."
According to the RHD review meeting, the allocation for the road transport and highways department in the ADP for the fiscal year 2020-21 is Tk 24,569.29 crore. Of this, 17217.99 crore taka has been allocated for RHD. Tk 10.51 crore for DTCA, Tk 72,4515000 for DMTCL, Tk 800 crore for MRT Line-5 (Northern), Tk 100.98 crore for MRT Line-5 (Southern) and the allocation reserved in the Secretariat Code is Tk 332.65 crore.
According to the RHD Superintending Engineer, the ADP allocation in the last 2019-20 financial year was Tk 17006.43 crore. Which increased to 18682.92 crore in RADP. But the expected progress was not possible as the allocation was as per the reappropriation.
The ADP allocation for the fiscal year 2020-21 is Tk 17217.99 crore. Here the public sector funding is 14206.85 crore taka. Foreign aid is 3011.14 crore taka. Of this, the amount of concessional money was 9908.97 crore taka. The bulk allocation is 4297.88 crore taka. In the last two fiscal years, the budget deficit is around Tk 6,000 crore. Therefore, an allocation of Tk 28,690 crore is required for the next 2021-22 financial year.
Meanwhile, according to the ADP's progress data for the first six months of the current financial year (July-December), there are 197 ongoing projects of the Road Transport and Highways Department. Of these, 21 projects are funded by foreign aid.
And the implementation progress in these 6 months is only 23.26 per cent. The total money so far spent is 5715.32 crore taka. The money concession was 39.16 per cent. The implementing agencies under this department could not spend 16.10 percent of the money.
RHD officials said the work under them is mainly at the field level. Due to the coronavirus epidemic, all these construction works had to be suspended for the safety of all workers and officials. As a result, the pace of work has logically slowed down and the implementation rate will also decrease. Now that work is being started in full swing again.
