Resource information
The Local Government Division, Ministry
of Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives
(LGD) agreed, as part of the identification of a follow-up
project to the on-going Rural Transport Improvement Program
(RTIP), to launch an Operational Risk Assessment (ORA) of
the Local Government Engineering Department (LGED). The ORA
draws on and adapts previous work to develop methodologies
to assess and suggest mitigation measures for fiduciary
risks, as well as inherent risks linked with road and
infrastructure construction and maintenance, administrative
control risks, and risks associated with political
influence. The Fiduciary and Operational Risk Management
Improvement Plan (FORMIP) built on the first report to: (i)
assess fiduciary and operational risks in LGED's
management of projects, assets and other resources, and in
LGD's oversight function, that are likely to be major
factors in possible funds leakages, delays and undue
interferences and overall inefficient use of public
resources; (ii) prioritize options which are realistic and
available to effectively minimize (and where possible,
eliminate) the major operational risks identified; and (iii)
identify options for mechanisms which (drawing on this ORA
as a 'baseline') will facilitate efficient future
monitoring of operational risks in LGED and the LGD. An
important conclusion of the ORA is that most of the
recommended actions are within LGED's authority to
take, with support from development partners and routine
budgetary spending and staffing authorizations from other
agencies. However, the action plan proposed in the report
will be greatly enhanced if supported by further development
of the Government's, Bank's and development
partners' programs to improve governance and reduce
overall operational risk in Bangladesh. Individual
sub-sector reports such as these ORA can only have a limited
impact in the absence of wider and widely supported programs.
