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It’s not new to run into different conditions when it comes to borrowing from development partners. There is a kind of unwritten obligation, especially when hiring consultants.
This time, a project related to the construction of toilets, water supply and hygiene education has been proposed at a cost of Tk 63.69 crore in three sectors. The cost was even higher. This figure has dropped a bit to the objections of the Planning Commission.
This is what happened in the project entitled ‘Rural water supply, sanitation and hygiene for human resource development’ proposed in the context of COVID-19. Under the project, around 6 million people from the village will move to the washing facility (water, hygiene, sanitation).
When asked about the cost of the consultancy, Planning Minister MA Mannan told Jugantar on Monday: “I wanted to know.” Later, the officials involved in the project came and discussed with me. However, he said, “Not everything can be said all the time.”
Former Governor of the Bank of Bangladesh. Saleh Uddin Ahmed said that the foreign aid project was assigned on behalf of those consultants and several meetings. But spending in this sector should be reduced as much as possible. Furthermore, Bangladesh has enough experience in the activities to be carried out. Apart from the government departments concerned, several NGOs, including BRAC, have extensive experience. They must be used. However, areas rich in arsenic may require consultants for some technical activities. That is not so much money and not so much work.
Arif Anwar Khan, Executive Engineer (Planning Department) of the Department of Public Health Engineering, said consultants and expenses have been taken into account after the selection. The meetings were held at the Ministry and then evaluated by the Planning Commission. Thus, these expenses have been proposed by reviewing them step by step. Also a type of work for each consultant. These are required.
According to sources, the cost of the project is estimated at Tk 1,062.59 crore. Of this, Tk 50.82 crore will be spent with government funds and Tk 1,631.06 crore from credit assistance from the World Bank and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB). The project will be presented at the meeting of the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) on Tuesday. Once approved, the project will be implemented by the Department of Public Health Engineering from January 2021 to December 2025.
According to sources from the Planning Commission, the activities to be carried out under the project include: 3,51,260 toilets will be built for the extremely poor in the project area.
Expenditure in this sector will be Tk 82 crore 69 lakh 40 thousand, which is 41.05 percent of the total cost of the project. In addition, 6 large piped water supply schemes will be implemented. In addition, piped water supply systems in 3,384 community levels, 352 public sanitation and hygiene facilities, sanitation and hygiene facilities in 500 community clinics, piped water facilities for toilets in 60 community clinics, construction of water facilities for washing hands due to covid. The necessary materials for prevention will be provided.
There will also be capacity building activities. In order to implement the project with these activities, it has been proposed to spend Tk.26 crore 79 lakh 50 thousand for 1,624 people per PMU consultant. Which is 1.14 percent of the total cost of the project. Additionally, Taka 265 million have been requested for the 340 Janmas pre-feasibility study, design technical assistance consultancy and supervision. Which is 1.46 percent of the total cost of the project.
To determine the feasibility study of climatic hotspots (coastal areas), 19 crore 50 lakh Tk have been requested for 18 monthly consultants. Which is 1.04 percent of the total cost of the project. The recommendation of the meeting of the Project Evaluation Committee (PEC) held on August 19 was that the cost of consulting services in the PMU be kept to a minimum.
Furthermore, considering the project activities, it is necessary to review the activities of the proposed consultant and determine the public month as needed and reduce the proposed amount at a reasonable rate. The terms of reference of all consultants, including the coastal zone inspection body, must be mentioned in the restructured DPP (revised development project proposal). In addition, the resources of the consultants must be shown separately in the project table.
In this regard, Kazi Jahangir Alam, head (additional secretary) of the Department of Physical Infrastructure of the Planning Commission, told Jugantar that to obtain a loan from the development partners, a consultant is necessary. Even then, we were able to reduce the cost a bit through negotiations. But they (development partners) don’t usually want to cut back.
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