Bangladesh: WB cancelled Padma Bridge funding at US behest: PM

Dhaka, July 7, 2014 (New Age): The prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, on Sunday alleged that the World Bank cancelled its funding in the Padma Bridge project being provoked by the United States and a vested quarter in the country. ‘The World Bank cancelled the fund being provoked by a vested quarter from the country and America,’ she said. The prime minister said this while addressing the high officials of the communications ministry at Bangladesh Secretariat. Sheikh Hasina said the government had asked the World Bank to provide proof in support of their allegation that there was corruption in the Padma Bridge project. ‘They (WB) could not provide any solid proof… They just provided some pages of a diary where it was stated who will get what commission. This is not enough to prove there was corruption in the project,’ she said. The prime minister also mentioned that the government later decided to construct the bridge with its own resources and that is going on now. Hasina has expressed her determination to complete the construction work of the Padma Bridge, the country’s largest bridge, in time saying the government has already started the construction work with its own funds. She directed the authorities concerned for rapid completion of the construction so that no one could obstruct the process further. Hasina said the Padma Bridge was not a dream now. The two-storey Padma Bridge and tunnel under the Karnaphuli River would be unique infrastructures of the country as her government wants to do something new for people. She hoped that the people of the country could commute through metro rail by 2019 as budgetary allocation for the project has been made in the current fiscal. Hasina directed the authorities concerned to take initiatives, including a feasibility study, to construct underground railway line in the capital to ensure smooth journey of the commuters. She also announced that Dhaka-Sylhet highway would be upgraded to a four-lane one, and a multipurpose tunnel with road and railway lines would be built under the Jamuna river to link Gaibandha and Jamalpur districts. Terming durable communication system as a criterion of the country’s development, prime minister Hasina said her government has been working ceaselessly for the development of the communication network. In this context, she mentioned that the government has allocated Tk 6,864.08 crore for the road division and Tk 8,735.25 crore for the bridge division in the current budget. The prime minister asked the officials of the communications ministry to put emphasis on the proper maintenance of roads along with the construction of new ones. She also asked them to minimise the sufferings of people. Hasina hoped the officials and employees of the communications ministry would take the country’s communication system to an envious height by building a sustainable, safe and quality road infrastructures and a comprehensive modern transportation system through optimum utilisation of knowledge and expertise. She said the country’s road communication sector witnessed rapid development in the past five years. The present government formulated ‘The National Coordinated Multimode-based Transportation Policy-2013’, ‘The 20-Year Road Master Plan’ and The National Road Safety Strategic Action Plan 2011-2013’ for development of the sector. She said her government had undertaken 146 projects in the last five years for building a sustainable, safe and quality road infrastructure and modern public transportation system. Of the projects, she said, 100 were completed and the works on the rest were going on. Hasina said the government is implementing 121 projects, including metro rail, construction of the second Kachpur, second Meghna and second Gumti bridges, upgardation of Dhaka-Chittagong National Highway, Joydevpur-Chandra-Tangail-Elenga National Highway and Joydevpur-Mymensingh National Highway to four lanes and Eastern Bangladesh Bridge Improvement Project. She also mentioned that the government has constructed 1,266 kilometers of new roads across the country in the last five years only under the road division. Besides, about 3,000 km roads have been widened and strengthened and 43,000 metres of concrete bridges were constructed during the period. The prime minister said her government has taken necessary measures for implementing the Mass Rapid Transit Line-6 from Uttara to Motijheel under the Dhaka Transport Coordination Authority. She also hoped that the construction work on the Elevated Expressway from Shahjalal International Airport to Kutubkhali of Dhaka-Chittagong Highway would begin by September this year. She said a feasibility study on constructing a tunnel under the Karnaphuli river in Chittagong has been completed. About Tk 5,600 crore would be spent on construction. Communications minister Obaidul Quader delivered the welcome address. Road division secretary MAN Siddique, bridge division secretary Khondakar Anwarul Islam and PM’s press secretary AKM Shamim Chowdhury were, among others, present.