Management Organization: 19 Years of Projects Left Over from the Previous Government

The Deputy of the National Management and Planning Organization states that in the final year of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's government, the number of projects and commitments suddenly more than doubled, and considering the credit situation of 2012, their execution and completion will require 19 years. According to the official Iranian news agency, IRNA, Alireza Saleh stated on July 4 in Mashhad that in 2012, the number of construction projects in Ahmadinejad's government was 1,300, which required a budget of 600 billion tomans. He added that in 2013, the number of these commitments increased to 2,900 projects, requiring a budget of 400 trillion tomans. Mr. Saleh mentioned that the projects committed to by 2012 could have been executed within five years. However, considering the credits of 2012 and the increase in these projects, when Hassan Rouhani's government came to power, a commitment was created for the next 19 years. Officials of Rouhani's government had previously referred to the existence of 2,900 remaining projects, including Mohammad Baqer Nobakht, the spokesperson for the Iranian government, who stated last September that this number of unfinished projects remained. At the same time, government officials provided inconsistent statistics, mentioning a timeframe between 24 to 40 years for the overall completion of unfinished projects in Iran. During Ahmadinejad's government, the inauguration of unfinished projects faced criticism from some members of the Iranian parliament and certain media outlets. Now, the Deputy of the Management and Planning Organization of Iran states that during Ahmadinejad's provincial trips, projects were promised that cost '50 and 100 billion tomans' but were executed with a budget of 100 and 200 million tomans. When Ahmadinejad came to power, his government increased the construction budget by 300% to finish unfinished projects. This led to self-criticisms regarding rising inflation and doubts about the results of completing projects that were ten to fifteen years old. Over the past two years, one of the projects remaining from Ahmadinejad's government that has been repeatedly mentioned by Rouhani's officials is 'Mehr Housing.' The new government officials have repeatedly criticized the inflation caused by it and the allocation of inadequate budgets and lack of infrastructure services for this project.