Dhaka //

Photo: Collected. The Prime Minister stated, “The current government is taking measures based on the white paper prepared by the interim government regarding the corruption of the past 17 years.”

The Prime Minister informed Parliament of this yesterday, Wednesday, while responding to a supplementary question from Mobasher Alam Bhuiyan, the Member of Parliament for the Cumilla-10 constituency, during the Prime Minister’s Question and Answer session.

She said, “The interim government formed a committee, and that committee published a white paper—or a report of that nature—before the people of the entire country. Among various issues covered there, the state of the economy was significant. If you examine that paper, you will get a fairly clear picture.”

She added, “Keeping that paper in view, the current government is making efforts to take the necessary measures in a phased manner.”

Responding to a question regarding the extension of project timelines and cost overruns, the Prime Minister said, “In the country, the extension of timelines and cost increases in government development projects generally do not stem from a single cause. Multiple weaknesses—ranging from project formulation, approval, land acquisition, and financing to procurement processes and management—intertwine to create this problem. Once the trend of extending project timelines and increasing costs came to the attention of the current government, various steps were taken to address the issue.”

She further stated, “Firstly, the reasons behind the extension of timelines and cost increases in development project implementation have been identified. These include: weak feasibility studies, inaccurate project cost estimations, flaws in selecting project sites, delays in land acquisition, delays in utility relocation, delays in procurement processes, failure to appoint project directors within the stipulated time, weak monitoring and accountability, a lack of alignment between financing plans and budgets, and a lack of inter-ministerial coordination, among others.”

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