The Dhaka Times Desk There is no doubt about the Padma Bridge. Things are getting more and more complicated. It is said that the second delegation of the World Bank will come in the first week of November to decide the strategy for the implementation of the Padma Bridge project.
The news agency quoted the Economic Relations Department (ERD) secretary as saying. After meeting with Finance Minister Abul Mal Abdul Muhith in his office at noon on October 18, he gave this information to the journalists.
ERD Secretary Iqbal Mahmud returned to Japan on October 17 after attending the annual meeting of the World Bank with the Finance Minister. The finance minister returned the day before. Iqbal Mahmud said that he spoke with the finance minister about the latest situation of the meeting with donor organizations in Tokyo. "I sat in discussions with top level officials of JICA and IDB in Tokyo. They want the implementation of Padma Bridge to start soon. We (the government) also want that.” “The World Bank delegation will come in the first week of November. They will come to discuss how soon the work of Padma Bridge can be started”, he added.
Stating that the government wants to carry out the World Bank's investigation and implementation of the Padma Bridge corruption allegations, the secretary said, "We have met with the World Bank ADB and other two organizations at various levels in Tokyo, and they also agree with our expectations." He said that the second delegation of the World Bank will mainly discuss this issue.
Finance Minister Abul Mal Abdul Muhith said on Wednesday that whether the construction work will continue or not depends on the second delegation of the World Bank, besides the ongoing investigation into corruption allegations in the Padma Bridge project.
In a press briefing in the cabinet department, the minister said, “Our demand is that the investigation and the implementation of the bridge should go together. Whether that happens or not, the second team will really know.”
It is to be noted that the World Bank canceled the loan agreement of 1.2 billion dollars last June, citing corruption in the Padma Bridge project. After that, the multinational donor organization announced to return to this project subject to conditions. On October 1, the World Bank informed that two delegations will visit Dhaka according to the conditions given to the government.
One team will assess whether Bangladesh's investigation into corruption is being carried out freely and thoroughly, and the second team will coordinate with other lenders to restructure the project's implementation plan so that they can more closely monitor the project's procurement activities.
It should be noted that the first team formed to monitor the investigation of the ACC has visited Dhaka at the beginning of this week.
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