Uncertainty looms large over 11 power projects, 24 other schemes

As many as 11 'high priority' power-generating projects figure among the 35 projects that have reached an impasse.

There are several projects among these 35 which have failed to make even 5 percent progress in the past 10 years.

The Implementation Monitoring and Evaluation Division (IMED) has drawn up a list of these pending projects.

An inter-ministerial meeting is scheduled for Tuesday to decide whether these projects will be continued or scrapped.

The meeting is to be presided over by Planning Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal.

Planning Secretary Tariqul Islam told bdnews24.com, "The projects are progressing at such a slow pace that a decision on them needs to be taken.

An IMED official said, "Similar lists were drawn up in the past as well. But no decision could be taken. But this time a call may be taken."

The official said a list of projects progressing slowly or the ones that had overshot their deadline was presented to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in May during a National Economic Council meet.

The responsibility to draw up a list by eliminating the ones that could be dropped from it was entrusted with the planning minister.

Power sector projects outnumber all other projects on the IMED chart of stagnated projects.

They comprise 11 of the total 35 such projects on the list.

Railways have five such projects, home, local government, road transport and industries ministries three each, while waterways ministry has two such projects.

The Statistics and Informatics Division, foreign ministry, fuel and energy ministry, and food ministry fill in the rest of the slot with one pending project each.

The conversion of a Sylhet power project that entails upgrading of its 150MW capacity to 225MW has made absolutely no progress in the past four years.

It is one of the 11 power projects that are on the list.

Similarly, the conversion from 100MW to 150MW of the Baghabarhi project has made headway of a little over zero percent in four years.

All the 11 power sector projects are included in the government's high-priority projects.

Tales of similar fates emerge from the projects of almost all other departments.