Govt's 'no' to ADB condition on supervising Padma Bridge construction

FE Team | Published: September 14, 2007 00:00:00 | Updated: February 01, 2018 00:00:00

Shakhawat Hossain
The Ministry of Communications (MoC) would like to supervise itself the construction work of the proposed Padma Bridge (PB), disagreeing with the condition of the Manila-based Asian Development Bank (ADB).
In a recent letter to the ADB, the Ministry cleared its position, stating that the condition of the Bank about the supervision of construction work of the proposed Tk 101.618 billion multi-purpose bridge over the Padma river is contrary to the country's existing policy.
A senior ministry official said disagreement with the specific condition will not discourage the ADB in financing the mega project as the donor has already confirmed its funding commitment.
Besides, the ADB, unlike other lending agencies like the World Bank, may charge more than 6.0 per cent rate of interest for lending $ 300 million, he added.
The ministry, however, agreed with the ADB's most other conditions, such as selection of consultants.
Among the other conditions, the ADB has sought assurance from the government on counterpart funding in time and restructuring of the Jamuna Multipurpose Bridge Authority as a separate division with a full-time secretary. The conditions were placed by the ADB fact-finding mission during its visit in the capital last July.
The construction of the Padma Bridge that was approved last month has become the most priority project of the caretaker government (CG).
Land acquisition for the bridge on both sides of the river is expected to start soon as allocation of more than Tk 3.0 billion for the purpose is in process by the Ministry of Finance.
The Padma Bridge Land Acquisition Ordinance 2007 was finalised at a meeting of Council of Advisers May last.
The Jamuna Multi-Purpose Bridge Authorities (JMBA) that looks after large bridge projects, in a study in 2005 estimated that 918.76 hectares of land would be needed to be acquired on both the sides - Mawa and Janjira - for the Padma Bridge.
The land acquisition cost is estimated at Tk 3.20 billion, said the study.
According to a survey by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), nearly 30,000 people will lose their lands due to land acquisition for construction of the bridge.
The site selection at the Mawa-Jajira points for the 6.01 kilometre-bridge was approved by the immediate past political government.
The construction of the 25-metre wide, four-lane Padma Bridge with a provision of railway tracks is expected to take six years.
The government is committed to bear one third of the project cost.