KATHMANDU, MARCH 22

Weak governance often has serious consequences for infrastructure projects. Take for example Boston's "Big Dig," which rerouted an interstate highway into a 1.5-mile-long tunnel and included the construction of a new tunnel, bridge, and greenway space.

With construction beginning in 1991, it was the most expensive highway project in the US and was plagued with poor governance. This included a lack of strategic long-term planning leading to cost overruns, delays, leaks, and design flaws.

The project was also beset by fraud and corruption problems, including the use of substandard materials, which led to six criminal arrests. The project was originally scheduled to be completed in 1998 at an estimated cost of $2.8 billion, but it was only finished in December 2007 and cost over $24 billion.

The Big Dig project exemplifies how it is often governance, rather than scarce financing, that is the main impediment to efficient, effective, and sustainable infrastructure services. Many countries struggle with governance-related issues, wasting infrastructure spending.

A version of this article appears in the print on March 23, 2022, of The Himalayan Times.