Course Title: Project Management

8/5/2017

Course Code:Date
QBA of Submission:
507
25/04/2019

Assignment on: Execution of Development Projects in Bangladesh:

Challenges faced by the Physio- Infrastructure projects and their ways out

Submitted By Submitted To
Shish Haider Chowdhury
Noor Nabi
ID: 201702064 Course Instructor, IBA-JU

WMBA PROGRAM
INSTITUTE OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION
JAHANGIRNAGAR UNIVERSITY
Introduction:

As we are on the way to becoming a middle-income country, the government of Bangladesh is

handling a lots of development projects. A great progress can be seen in infrastructural
development for roads and highways for instance Padma Bridge, Karnaphuli River Tunnel, Metro
Rail etc. Such initiatives are significant for strengthening the infrastructural backbone of the
country. But at the time of executing these projects the government has to go through some
problems and challenges. The major challenges faced by Bangladesh at the execution stage of
development projects are described below:

Challenges faced by the Physio- infrastructure projects:

Inadequate Allocation of Fund:

One of the major challenges faced during the allocation of the infrastructure projects are the
budgeted funds are not sufficient. For example, the fund budgeted for Padma Bridge exceeds much
higher at the time of execution.

Delay in Lining up / Allocation and Reimbursement of Foreign Aid:

Foreign aid allocation and development effectiveness is an important issue because each year
donors transfer lot of money as foreign aid to developing countries. Moreover, based on new
pledges and greater commitments to development assistance from donor nations, there is a
possibility of scaling up of foreign development assistance far beyond the current levels.

Lack of Coordination and Cooperation among Departments:

In a large project different parties and stakeholders are involved in different activities in the project.
To run the smooth implementation work of the project, a plan is an important tool. To execute and
implement the plan is a strong and proper coordination mechanism must be practiced to move all
the concern parties in a coordinated way to implement the work plan of the project. But no such
coordination mechanism has been found in the project activities. Consequently, project has been
suffering from coordination problem with different parties and lack of sharing information.

Delay in Design Approval:

Delay in getting architectural design and structural design as one of the problems of project
implementation in Bangladesh. There are also lack of efficient and skilled architects and structural
designers in this country. Moreover, those who are efficient in the work are very busy in their
personal and private issues.

Timely implementation:
One of the big challenges is timely implementation of the ongoing infrastructure projects. The
construction of Padma Bridge, for example, was expected to be completed by December 2018 but
that did not happen. The Dhaka-Chittagong Highway is yet to be fully completed. We lack
expertise in foreseeing the implementation barriers. There is lack of accountability in the
implementation process.

Construction Quality:
The construction quality of some of the large infrastructure projects is also questionable. One of the
Major reasons behind poor quality of these construction works is that the Public Works Department
(PWD) is not involved in these constructions; these projects are mostly handled by private
organizations that lack adequate skilled workforce. Public institutions, such as RAJUK, are still
unable to undertake quality construction work; many of their own buildings are faulty. Moreover,
lack of sufficient knowledge about handling mega infrastructure projects is also affecting quality of
our constructions work.

Unbearable Traffic Congestion:

The major problem in Dhaka city is unbearable traffic congestion. The problem is becoming
unbearable day by day. There is too much traffic inside the city, and the existing transportation
infrastructure is inadequate to cater to the overwhelming population pressure. Most of our so-called
flyovers do not meet the criteria of an effective, standard flyover. For instance, the Mohakhali
flyover is more suited to be called an overpass. The flyover from Bijoy Sharani to the Rangs
building can be considered a connecting over bridge. There is also a flyover for left-hand drive
vehicles in Dhaka, which makes no sense in a city that caters solely to right-side drive vehicles.
The flyover at Kuril, however, fulfills the criteria of a proper flyover. Though the construction of
Metro Rail may reduce traffic congestion to some extent.

The ways out of the problems faced in execution of infrastructure

-development projects:

First of all, the government of Bangladesh needs to be more accountable in the implementation
process. The government should form a committee or an advisory board comprising of technically
sound people to ensure standard of public construction work, particularly for the mega projects. 

For reducing traffic congestion, constructing underground railway lines can be a better solution.
Again the capital city Dhaka needs to be decentralized. Many offices and academic institutions
have been built along a single road, which causes serious congestion. For example, there are two
universities and one hospital on the same road in Mohakhali. The existence of such huge
constructions in a limited space is unfeasible. The government needs to be more careful about
giving permission for such constructions. The Government should develop a strong railway
network around the country within the next five years to eradicate traffic congestion. The
government need to pay proper attention to the improvement of our river routes. Due to lack of
regular dredging, river ways are shrinking dramatically, and that seriously hinders transportation in
the river routes. Again, all the inter-district connecting roads should be built as elevated roads.
These elevated roads will be like railway lines. These will protect our agricultural lands while
ensuring that there is less congestion on the roads during adverse situations like heavy rain.

The Dhaka Metro Rail, which is currently under construction, cannot be the only solution to our
traffic problem. The government needs to focus on how we can better utilize the existing facilities,
such as flyovers and footbridges, inside the city. The overall transportation system should be given
greater priority as people's mobility is increasing day by day.

Moreover, proper plan should be made for execution of the physio- infrastructural development
projects, foreign aid allocation needs to be more effective, skilled worker need to be employed.
Last but not the least, we must ensure strong engineering control over the design and construction
of the infrastructural development projects.