WB must say where it found graft in Padma Bridge project : PM

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Prime Minister (PM) Sheikh Hasina Saturday said that all future large scale projects of the country would be implemented under public private partnership (PPP) instead of depending on loans of multilateral credit agencies, reports BSS. She also said that the World Bank (WB) must provide specific evidence where corruption took place in the Padma Bridge project. There is no logic to suspend the financing of the project on the basis of so-called corruption allegation whereas the Bank didn't disburse any single penny, she said. The PM was addressing a press conference at her official residence Gonobhaban in the city on her five-day official visit to neighbouring Myanmar and Indonesia. She added that the government wanted specific information from the WB about the corruption but it failed to provide any information to this end. Agriculture Minister Matia Chowdhury, LGRD and Cooperatives Minister Syed Ashraful Islam, Railway Minister Suranjit Sengupta, Communications Minister Obaidul Quader, Foreign Minister Dr Dipu Moni and Information Minister Abul Kalam Azad also were present. Sheikh Hasina said that the Myanmar authorities agreed to take back 28,000 registered Rohinga refugees and the remaining others would be repatriated after necessary verification. The visit has ushered in a new phase of bilateral ties for resolving outstanding refugee issue and enhancing cooperation in various fields, she said. Sheikh Hasina said that the government would invite foreign investors to implement our big projects like Padma Bridge in future under PPP, and "we would provide the task to the interested parties."