Dhaka urges WB to specify graft allegations about Padma Bridge project

FE Team | Published: October 13, 2011 00:00:00 | Updated: February 01, 2018 00:00:00

Nizam Ahmed Bangladesh has requested the World Bank (WB) to clarify the nature of graft, it suspected in the proposed $2.9 billion Padma Bridge, so that those allegedly involved in corruption could be punished and the issues relating to corruption, effectively addressed, ahead of the construction of the mega infrastructure, officials said on Wednesday. The WB has recently brought allegations of corruption involving the proposed project and suspended a $1.2 billion promised credit for the construction of the 6.15 -km-long multipurpose bridge. "The request was made at a high level interaction with the WB," a senior official of the ministry of finance told the FE following a meeting on Wednesday between Finance Minister AMA Muhith and WB's country representative, Ellen Goldstein. The authorities have requested the WB to pin-point the nature of corruption and to identify who committed the corruption or connived with those involved in corruption, the officials said. "The finance minister also assured the WB representative that all ways and means of corruption will be sealed and corrupt firms will be black-listed," the official quoted the minister as saying at the meeting. Separately, the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) also in a letter to the World Bank wanted to know in details about the people and the firms involved in the alleged corruption. "To know the details, the authorities have dispatched a letter to the World Bank headquarters in Washington," Forrukh Ahmed, spokesman of the ACC told a news conference on Wednesday. "There is an exclusive cell to monitor corruption during the construction of the mega bridge," said the spokesman who is also a director-general of the ACC. A thorough investigation would be conducted to root out the corruption and punish the people involved, once the specific corruption charges were available from the WB, officials of the ministry of finance (MoF) said. Communications Minister Syed Abul Hossain, while talking to the media recently, claimed that there was no corruption in the project and invited the WB and also the country 'anti-corruption watchdog' to investigate the allegations. After being alerted by a visiting WB vice-president last month, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina asked her core-officials to monitor alleged corruption in the proposed bridge project, officials of the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) said. "The authorities are determined to remove all corrupt elements at every level of the bridge project to restore confidence of the development partners," said a senior official of the PMO. Suspecting corruption in the bridge project, the WB launched investigation against a Canadian consultancy firm for its alleged corrupt practices in the bidding process of the proposed bridge. Following a request from the WB, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police raided the office of the Canadian engineering giant SNC - Lavalin (TSX : SNC) near Toronto in late August. The Canadian firm is one of the short-listed companies for the Padma Bridge. The suspension of promised fund by the World Bank to Bangladesh has alarmed the government and the other development partners of the impoverished South Asian country, diplomatic circles said. Bangladesh topped the list of world's most corrupt countries for five years until 2005 but the rating has slightly improved over the past few years.