That's a lack of discipline, and it's inexcusable. It doesn't matter whether it's private sector or public sector. An agile approach still has to be disciplined. In a way, it would reduce your risk, because after every 30 days or 90 days you have to prove you have delivered value. You have to prove what you're going to accomplish in the next 30 days. You either do it or you don't. If you don't, you probably need to shut it down.
There is a lot more accountability in a process like that. You're clear about what you're going to deliver and you have to do it on regular tight intervals. This way, you can only go a month off the rails, whereas on an 18-month or five-year waterfall project, you don't know whether you're even close until the switch goes on. It has to be a disciplined process.
People think agile is just making it up as you go along. It's not meant to be like that.