An allocation has been necessary to prevent the spread of coronavirus on the construction sites of major development projects including mega and fast-track ones aiming to keep the progress of those up in the next fiscal year. According to experts and consultants, as the scope of overcoming the coronavirus crisis shortly is little, this non-budgetary allocation which is to be spent on the facilities like medical and isolation units and labour sheds etc. will help build trust in the people working for the projects. “A volatile situation has arisen in the development scenario due to the coronavirus pandemic. So, the budget will be required not only to help continue the projects but also to build trust among foreign consultants, contractors and local labourers to work during the coronavirus pandemic,” said BUET professor M Shamsul Hoque. As the majority of development projects are field based, he said, spending on establishing corona units will help the government maintain the work of these projects and continue the progress by managing time-to-time crisis situation. Though Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal highlighted the budget’s structural change this year in terms of setting priorities by the government focusing on health, education and agriculture due to the corona situation, he did not mention any such fund in his budget speech. The World Bank and Asian Development Bank also announced emergency response fund for Covid-19 pandemic, the fund is yet to address the issues needed for the development projects. Dr Shamsul Hoque said in the upcoming fiscal year, managing the corona situation would be more important than attaining the fiscal or phase-wise development targets of each project. “So, special budget would also be required to tackle the unavoidable situation which is likely due to carry out extra work beyond the contract or miss the contract-based work.” According to project offices including Padma Multipurpose Bridge, Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) Line-6, Third-terminal at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport, Matarbari coal-fired power plant, none could meet the fiscal target in the ongoing fiscal year due to losing vital time of last three months of construction due to Covid-19 pandemic. Dr Hoque, professor of Civil Engineering Departmentat BUET, said non-budgetary policy support would help them handle the phase-wise work needed to be done as per their contracts, even if revision is necessary. “Many unforeseen problems may arise during the corona pandemic which have not been included in the contracts,” he said citing the need for keeping an allocation in the budget. A consultant working for a foreign-funded project preferring not to be named said huge spending would also be required for the projects which have no scope of establishing isolation or confined area like Padma Bridge, and Karnaphuli Tunnel. He said the fund would be necessary to bring workers from labour sheds to open the space of working sites as well as manage their treatment if infections are diagnosed. Though foreign-funded development projects usually keep fund for medical facilities due to engagement of foreign consultants, it is learnt that the government-funded projects usually do not have such provision. But Padma Multipurpose Bridge project which was designed as foreign-funded project at the time of procurement has such provision. The project office since announcement of lockdown has already spent on medical facilities to ensure health safety of more than 3,000 local and foreign workers and staffers. Project Director Mohammad Shafiqul Islam said the fund to strengthen the medical unit has been utilised from the project’s contingency fund. As the Chinese government-supported project, Padma Rail Link project has also modern and well-equipped medical setup on the construction site. But it is learnt that the Karnaphuli tunnel project has not such facility even it is funded by the Chinese government. Roads and Highways Department which carries out road infrastructures has never incorporated the issues of isolation or medical facilities in the project design. ARHD official said the contractors under various projects have now established the workers’ shed on a suitable site for the sake of carrying out the project. But the official admitted that there would be a possibility of variation in the work in the next budget. Dr Shamsul Hoque, also consultant of the government’s many projects, said the government has to manage the work from both foreign experts and consultants even they are not ready to visit the country as these projects are highly dependent on them.
