The World Bank has expressed dissatisfaction over the performance of 12 projects approved by it and will speak to the Economic Relations Division (ERD) authorities on October 1 to resolve the issues. The Dhaka Water Supply and Sanitation Project was aimed at improving sustainable delivery of storm water drainage, waste water, and water services by the Dhaka Water Supply and Sewerage Authority (DWASA) which is solely responsible for providing these services in Dhaka. The World Bank (WB) had approved the USD 149-million project on December 2, 2008. However, as per the WB evaluation, the project’s performance is unsatisfactory.
The project work was scheduled to be achieved through rehabilitation, repair, and expansion of the city’s sewerage network and treatment plants, and installation of storm water pumping stations and rehabilitation of canals to help improve drainage and minimise urban flooding.
The project was scheduled to be completed on June 30, 2013, after four years of implementation. However, most of the works are either incomplete (in case of storm water drainage) or have not started (in case of sewerage). The WB has identified the project as unsatisfied due to slow implementation and disbursement.
A review undertaken by the World Bank in December 2012 recommended a major restructuring of the project, including reducing the scope of activities (mainly under the sewerage component); cancellation of part of the IDA credit; extension of the closing date to December 31, 2015; and amending the project development objective and results framework to correspond to the revised project scope. Both the government and the DWASA agreed in principle to this and the project had been restructured.
The WB has identified another 11 projects as unsatisfied– Chittagong Water Supply Improvement and sanitation; Rural water supply and sanitation; investment promotion financing facilities; private sector development support project; Nuton Jibon project; Disability and children at risk; strengthening regional cooperation for wildlife protection; Clean air and sustainable environment; Identification system for enhancing access to services (IDEA); National agriculture technology; and Employment generation programme.
However, according to the ERD, the government is having a hard time in implementing these WB projects due to slow disbursement of funds and implementation. For speedy implementation of these projects, the ERD and the WB are scheduled to meet on October 1at the ERD conference room in Sher-e-Bangla Nagar.
Of the 12 projects, the IDEA project (for operation and management of the national ID system) may face difficulties in getting the WB funds until the rules and regulations of the legal framework are revised.
According to international and local legal experts, prior to formulating rules and regulations, new provisions should be included in the National Identification Registration Act (NIRA) to enable the Election Commission to charge fees for ID verification services.
The on-lending component of the Investment Promotion and Financing Facility (IPFF) has not been performing well, according to the ERD sources. Slow implementation of the on-lending component has resulted from a dearth of robust projects. However, the government believes that this is due to fact that the interest rates are not attractive enough for private investors.
The Private Sector Development Support Project (PSDSP) is also facing slow disbursement of funds and may not be completed within the original time frame. Significant disbursements for the project, now in its second year, are expected to start in the third year of implementation.
-With The Independent input
