Public-Private Partnership Authority (PPPA) is going to cut its projects from the pipeline finding many are neither bankable nor marketable.
Officials said since the authority has already developed a good number attractive and well-designed projects with the possibility of attracting foreign investors, a decision has been taken to be careful about including new projects in the PPP model.
"Many projects have been listed at the initial stage without considering viability or marketability, which would be scrutinised," said an official.
He said a directive from the 8th executive board meeting of the authority was held on Sunday also came to find weak projects through scrutiny and drop those from the PPP pipeline after consultation with all stakeholders.
Officials said the authority, however, will try to overcome the shortcomings of the schemes during its meeting with relevant stakeholders.
The board meeting, presided over by chairman and principal secretary to the Prime Minister Dr Ahmad Kaikaus, was attended by secretary of Prime Minister's Office M Tofazzel Hossain Miah, NBR Chairman Abu Hena Mohammad Rahmatul Muneem, finance division secretary Abdur Rouf Talukder, legislative and parliamentary affairs division secretary Mohammad Moinul Kabir, Economic Relations Division secretary Fatima Yasmin and PPPA executive director and secretary Sultana Afroz.
Director Mohammad Abul Bashar presented overall scenario of the PPP projects in the meeting.
A PPPA statement said the board discussed the minutes of the last meeting and the progress of significant decisions, as well as what needs to be done to address the overall challenges of the PPP programme. The meeting concluded with a review of the current status of ongoing projects.
Sources said the meeting mainly discussed the issues related to the post-pandemic situation to make the PPPA prepared for secured investment and spend significant time on the attractive projects to make those bankable and marketable.
Since the PPPA was formed under a 2015 law, it has been working on a total of 77 approved projects of road transport, bridges, power, tourism, health, etc., under the PPP model.
But only two health sector projects are in operation and six at the construction stage.
Sources said many projects did not progress much after opening tenders several times and even some projects after contract signing could not be started due to various problems.
For example, Shaibal motel of the Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation has been stuck up for several years due to noncooperation from local influential people.
Dhaka Elevated Expressway project, the first PPP project, whose contract was signed much before the PPPA was formed, has been languishing for more than nine years due to the lack of funding.
However, the government to government PPP modality has shown signs of promise, with the PPPA authority making good progress in attracting investors from Japan, Korea and the United Arab Emirates for funding projects like multimodal transport hub, expressways and bridge construction.
smunima@yahoo.com