There may be major floods in the country in August. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has ordered the officials to be careful in such fear. He said, there may be flood, the forecast is available. So we have to be prepared, everyone has to work together. Besides, he ordered to prepare from the beginning of the financial year to increase the implementation of the budget.

He gave these instructions at the meeting of the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) at the NEC conference room in the capital’s Sherebangla Nagar on Tuesday. Also, in that meeting, he approved 11 development projects worth around 5,500 crore rupees. It was presided over by Prime Minister and ECNEC Chairperson Sheikh Hasina. Planning Minister Major General (Retd.) Abdus Salam highlighted these issues in the briefing after the meeting.

State Minister for Planning also attended the briefing. Shahiduzzaman Sarkar, Senior Secretary of Planning Department, Satyajit Karmakar, Member of Physical Infrastructure Department (Secretary). Md. Emdad Ullah Mian, Member (Secretary) of Agriculture, Water, Rural Institutions Department, Abdul Baki, Secretary of Statistics and Information Management Department. Shahnaz Arefin and others.

The Planning Minister said that the Prime Minister has ordered to emphasize the training of project managers. Also asked to ensure that a project manager is appointed for a project. Besides, the Prime Minister has given instructions to accelerate cultivation in the areas where there is land around Dhaka region. He said, most of the land is going for housing projects. However, care should be taken to ensure that the lands that are still available are not left vacant. The Prime Minister said that projects cannot be taken up in areas where crops are good on three-crop or two-crop land. He also directed to avoid densely populated areas in land acquisition.

The Planning Minister also said that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has ordered to increase the implementation of the planned Plan 41. Besides, he ordered to look into how the money allocated for the projects in the last financial year 2023-24 was spent. Along with this, the Prime Minister ordered the renovation of dilapidated police stations across the country. He directed to complete the preparation of the project in the first three months of the current financial year.

In the briefing, the Planning Minister said that everyone has a responsibility to ensure the quality of work. It is the responsibility of the concerned ministry to ensure both the speed and quality of project work. By 2041 we will move to developing countries. For this, inter-ministerial capacity building is being done.

Approval of 11 projects worth Tk 5,500 crore: Eknek has approved 11 projects including agricultural development in Dhaka region. The total cost of implementing these has been estimated at 5 thousand 459 crore 87 lakh taka. Out of this, 5 thousand 214 crores 34 lakhs will be spent from government funds, 140 crores 44 lakhs from foreign loans and 105 crores from the own funds of implementing agencies. In this context, the Minister of State for Planning. Shahiduzzan Sarkar said, having a meeting of the Cabinet or a cabinet does not mean a step forward, this meeting means a leap. This financial year is the last year of the eighth five-year plan. Ahead we are crossing LDC. We will be able to advance the development only if we go to the project implementation stage through the passing of the Ekneke project. We are working to advance the development.

The projects approved by Ekne are Agriculture Development Project in Dhaka Region, Critical Infrastructure Development in Barguna and Munshiganj and Land Acquisition Project for Raipura 120 MW AC Peak Grid Tide Solar Power Plant. Apart from this, BSIC Printing Industrial City (2nd Revised), establishment of Kishore Development Center Kishoreganj, Jaipurhat and Chittagong, establishment of Islamic Arabic University, upgradation of National Highway Mane on Comilla-Salda and Kasba (Syedabad) roads and urban building protection projects. There is also the construction of pillars on the banks of Buriganga, Shitalakshya, Turag and Balu rivers, the construction of ancillary infrastructure including arrow defenses, walkways and jetties, and the construction of administrative and barrack buildings for Bangladesh Police police stations in different parts of the country.