Tk 51,000 crore or estimated up to 40 per cent of the costs in the construction works carried out under the Roads and Highways Department development projects in the past 15 years was misused through corruption.
A Transparency International Bangladesh research report on Wednesday revealed the information.
鈥業n the roads and highways sector, development activities have been monopolised through tripartite collusion among politicians, high-ranking bureaucrats, and contractors, which has captured the policymaking process, procurement聽 systems, and project implementation,鈥� read the report.
Blaming the three-party nexus for this massive embezzlement by violating laws, TIB executive director Iftekharuzzaman at a press conference, held at its office in the capital, said, 鈥榰nless this nexus is busted, corruption will never be effectively controlled.鈥�
In the context of the newly appointed interim government, he also said that overall some people were replaced by others in the new regime, but long-held institutional bad practices and mentality remained the same across sectors.聽
The TIB report shows that the estimated overall amount of corruption in the construction works of development projects implemented under the RHD from 2009鈥�2010 to 2023鈥�2024 fiscal years stood between Tk 29,230 crore and Tk 50,835 crore.
Percentage-wise, the report shows that the estimated corruption rate ranges from 23 per cent to 40 per cent of the total costs of the construction of roads and bridges in development projects implemented under the Annual Development Programme.
The corruption includes 11鈥�14 per cent bribery in obtaining work orders and receiving bills by the contractors, 10鈥�20 per cent corruption through collusion between politicians, contractors, and high-level officials, and 2鈥�6 per cent corruption in areas, including renting tender licences, selling work orders, compromises and local political extortion.
Data for the research titled 鈥楪overnance challenges in the implementation of Roads and Highways鈥� development projects鈥� was collected from June 2023 to September this year.
The development projects completed between 2017鈥�18 and 2021鈥�22 fiscals (initiated from 2010鈥�11 to 2018鈥�19) were included in the specific scope of this study.
Emphasis in the study was laid on the government-funded projects below Tk 1,000 crore, while mega projects funded by foreign donors were excluded due to differences in modalities of implementation, decision-making, and policy-making processes.
The overall observation on corruption in the research, however, was made on all the roads and highways department projects executed under both local and foreign funds in the past 15 years under the annual development programme, said TIB senior research fellow Md Julkarnayeen, who conducted the research with fellow research associate Md Mostafa Kamal.
In the past five years, 38.8 per cent of the completed projects took 4鈥�5 years to finish, and 13.7 per cent took more than five years with the project costs increased by as much as 93 per cent compared with the original budget estimation, the research found.
The research outcomes also showed that these projects often failed to follow the laws and guidelines, skipped proper planning and feasibility studies, and also lacked coordination among different authorities.聽
Without in-depth feasibility assessments and environmental impact evaluations, including assessment for climate change impact and disaster risks, the projects lack sustainability.
While only 19 out of 25 completed projects under the scope of the research had evaluation reports prepared, only seven of these reports were published on the Implementation Monitoring and Evaluation Division website.
The RHD鈥檚 audit for the 2019鈥�20 fiscal was completed in 2021, and the report was presented to the relevant parliamentary committee in the 2023鈥�24 fiscal.
Over the past decade, 15 major contracting firms had established dominance by capturing the RHD tendering process through the internal settlement and collusion, the report said.
鈥榃e thought that during this interim government period we would get information but we did not,鈥� Iftekharuzzaman alleged, adding that on Tuesday the RHD officials told them that they would give them the information.
He said that those involved in the three-party nexus should be brought under exemplary accountability in the changed scenario of the country.
To prevent personal gains, nepotism, irregularities and corruption in the implementation of roads and highways development projects, he also demanded a 鈥榗onflict of interest law鈥� and its strict reflection in other relevant rules and regulations.
鈥榃e believe that a scope has been created and the nation should take this opportunity,鈥� added the TIB chief.
The background of the research read that since the 2013鈥�14 fiscal, the transport and communication sector had received the highest allocations in the annual development programme, while the total development expenditure for the RHD allocated from the ADP budget between 2009鈥�2010 and 2023鈥�2024 fiscals amounted to Tk 1,69,450 crore.
