About Tk聽2,111 crore, equivalent to $248.4 million, was lost to corruption in the Bangladesh Climate Change Trust projects taken between 2010 and 2024 under the ousted Awami League regime, said the Transparency International Bangladesh on Tuesday.
The anti-graft watchdog said that Tk聽1,281.3 crore was embezzled during the implementation of the projects, Tk聽599.9 crore was lost due to collusion in tendering, contractor selection and sub-contracting, Tk聽175 crore was spent in bribery and illegal transactions in project approval and Tk聽54.4 crore was spent in bribery to officials responsible for monitoring the projects between 2010 and 2024.
In the 15 years, the climate change trust approved 891 projects worth about $458.5 million (about Tk聽3,895.87 crore considering the dollar rate of Tk聽84.97 in 2019).
The information was disclosed at a press conference held at the TIB office in the capital Dhaka, where the organisation released a research report titled 鈥楪overnance Challenges in Climate Finance in Bangladesh and Way Forward鈥�.
TIB research officials Md Mahfuzul Haque and Md Sahidul Islam briefed about the research findings while the organisation鈥檚 executive director Iftekharuzzaman and adviser professor Sumaiya Khair, among others, were present.
Iftekharuzzaman said, 鈥楾here were inadequate allocations for climate change adaptation. Still a significant amount of the fund was lost due to corruption. As a result, the climate victims did not receive their due compensation. This trend of corruption must be stopped.鈥�
He expressed his concerns over no progress in recovering BCCT deposits that have remained stuck at scam-hit Farmers Bank (now Padma Bank) since 2016.
聽The TIB assessed that most of the projects were approved based on political consideration and the approvals were also influenced by collusion among the BCCT trustee board and the technical committee members.
BCCT officials responsible for managing the funds failed to take any measures聽 to prevent such corruption, the TIB said.
The organisation also found that the BCCT, without proper verification, approved project proposals that were submitted for reconstruction of 鈥榥on-existing鈥� polders and embankments.
Approved designs and specifications were not followed in the construction of drains, roads and embankments under several projects, the TIB found.
Several instances of collection of unauthorised money from project beneficiaries were reported.
Between 2019-2023, the BCCT board approved 373 projects. Of these, 216 projects, or 57.9 per cent, were focused on the installation of solar street lights in municipalities and other areas.聽
The TIB research found that most of the 216 project proposals were approved with an overestimation, ranging from 47.1 per cent to 57.1 per cent, of equipment.
Although the project was granted to procure solar street light equipment originating from Germany, the TIB found that funds were also embezzled by installing 鈥榣ow-quality鈥� street lights from China.
Although the expected operational lifespan of solar panels was five years, evidence was there that many units became non-functional within just one year of installation.
The TIB research also found that the BCCT approved many projects like the establishment of safari parks and eco parks, which were not directly linked to climate change adaptation.
