The planning ministry in a report to the National Economic Council headed by Prime Minister Khaleda Zia yesterday urged the government to end both the projects within the current fiscal year. If there were any components of national importance in the projects the government might incorporate those separately in the next ADP, the ministry advised the council.

Of the two projects, the one titled Thana Connectivity Road Construction Project has been running since 1986 and the other named Publicly Important Road and Bridge Construction Project (Second Phase) since 1994. The pair, though were never approved, somehow made their way into the Annual Development Programme (ADP) every year since their launch, the report noted.

"[We] face various sorts of lobbying and pressure to spend such large amounts of money for projects not yet approved," the planning ministry reported. "It hinders the natural pace of development and disturbs the planning order. It also tarnishes the government's image," the report maintained.

The 18-year old Thana Connectivity Road Construction Project has sought an allocation of Tk 10,977 crore and the 10-year old project for publicly important roads and bridges TK 1,540 crore.

Though the project proposals were supposed to be sent to the Executive Committee of National Economic Council for approval, the authorities concerned every year have been submitted them to the planning ministry for incorporation in the development budget. The R&H department through lobbying has alaways been successful in enlisting the projects in the ADP. But, as they are unapproved, the ADP usually allocates nothing for them.

Lobbyists including parliamentarians and political leaders then start to play their part by putting pressure on the planning and the finance ministries to allocate funds for the projects to build some roads or culverts in their areas. The ministries are thus forced to divert some funds to them from other heads of the development budget. This is the standard procedure how the unapproved projects have been getting finance.

Previously, the Public Expenditure Review Commission (Perc) in a report also pointed out the same anomalies, showing that the current ADP contained 290 projects, or 22.4 percent of the total number of projects, which were unapproved.

Due to bureaucratic bottlenecks, the approval process of many projects keep on hanging for years, while authorities keep on spending money against those, the Perc report noted. "As a result, when these projects are finally placed for approval, they have already lost their relevance or necessity and priority."

The Perc report listed three such nine-year old projects, one eight-year old, 10 four-year old, 22 three-year old and so on.

It calculated that the way and at the pace the funds for the Publicly Important Road and Bridge Building Project were being used, it would take at least 44 years to implement it.

The Perc also showed how the Thana Connectivity Road Construction Project had already lost its relevance.