ADP implementation dips

FOR the first time in recent memory, implementation of the annual development plan (ADP) has gone down in an election year. Prior experience shows that every elected government speeds up implementation of projects, particularly priority ones, when a general election draws near. Not this time round. We are alarmed to find that the highest rate of implementation stands at a mere 15 per cent by local government, while health and family welfare takes the cake for second lowest implementation at 2 per cent.To put it more bluntly, of the 54 ministries in government, 22 implemented approximately 0 – 2 per cent of their allocations. Naturally the slow pace with which some of the biggest projects in the power sector are being implemented has become a major headache for policymakers. Even more embarrassing is the fact that the Padma Bridge project that received the third largest allocation in the budget has managed to expend a mere 0.13 per cent of its allocation.We are distressed that infrastructure has taken such a bad hit. The sorry state of roads and highways hardly need to be highlighted. Yet when we find that the roads division has managed to implement only 5 per cent of the development budget of one of the most crucial projects of the country, i.e. the Dhaka-Chittagong four-lane, there is little left to be said. The overall situation points to a reduced capacity of the ministries to implement development programmes timely and that does not admit of any excuse.