C T Online Desk: The long-cherished dream for a bridge over the mighty River Padma is now a reality, but making the dream come true was never an easy task as it had to overcome “conspiracies” hatched home and abroad.
The 6.15km mega structure constructed with Bangladesh’s own resource is going to be inaugurated by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on June 25, putting an end to the long wait of people for it.
But looking back, it is seen that there were various conspiracies around this mega project. There were fictitious allegations of corruption.
The completion of the bridge is seen as the biggest achievement of the Awami League government that has to foil the “conspiracies” leading to cancellation of committed fund by the World Bank over a corruption allegation in 2012, which was finally proved false.
Besides, some local politicians and civil society members also stood behind the allegation and raised questions over the country’s capacity for building the bridge with own money.
But it was Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina who has been able to remove all the confusion along with overcoming all the financial and technical challenges.
There has been a serious allegation of ‘conspiracy’ plotted to stage a high-level corruption in consultancy job of the Padma bridge project between Bangladeshi government officials and SNC Lavalin, the Canadian Consultancy firm that bagged the job.
The World Bank had committed $1.2 billion, while ADB, JICA, IDB had committed another $1.15.
After the graft charge all the lenders stopped funding to the scheme even though the WB subsequently said it should have been engaged with the project.
In early 2016, BNP chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia said that the Padma Bridge won’t be implemented during the tenure of this Awami League and asked all to avoid the bridges which she said was being built with faults.
After that, one after another anti-Padma bridge comments started coming from the BNP leaders.
Echoing the BNP’s voice, some civilians also raised the voice against the dream project and tried to undermine the efforts of the government.
Badiul Alam Majumder, editor of Sushasoner Jonno Nagarik (Sujon), said Padma Bridge is another example of how corruption is taking us back. It will create obstacles in the way of national development.
Dr Debapriya Bhattacharya was saddened by the government’s denial of allegations of corruption in the bridge project.
He said that since the first complaint was received, the attitude of the Bangladesh government has been to deny the allegations.
The finance minister said some steps have been taken. But in the true sense of the word, it did not win the trust of the donor community, he added.
On the other hand, Executive Director of the TIB Dr Iftekharuzzaman questioned the power of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC).
He said that the ACC had said that there was no evidence. But the Canadian police came and gave evidence of this corruption.
He expressed doubts whether the ACC has the capacity to investigate this incident. The questioned whether ACC had necessary freedom to investigate the graft allegations.
Prime Minister’s Economic Adviser Dr Mashiur Rahman was criticised by various quarters for the corruption allegation over the Padma Bridge project.
Abul Hossain, the then communications minister, had to resign on January 5, 2012, after being forced to go on mandatory leave was frequently quizzed by the ACC.
On several occasions, Syed Abul Hossain claimed to the media that he was not involved with any corruption liked the Padma bridge project.
Some analysts have tried to link the then Grameen Bank Managing Director Dr Muhammad Yunus’ removal from his post due to age limit to the World Bank’s fund withdrawal.
At a conference in London on July 25, 2012, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said that when it came to hiring consultants (on the Padma Bridge), they (the World Bank) were repeatedly pressuring the government and the communications minister for a particular company.
“As if the company was hired as a consultant. Now if I ask, what percentage of money did the World Bank lobby for that company?,” she questioned.
It did not take long for all the imaginary allegations to be proved false. A Canadian court ruled on February 10, 2016 that the allegation of corruption in the Padma Bridge was nothing but gossip.
The wounds inflicted by domestic and foreign conspiracies have finally ended as the work on the main bridge of the Padma has been completed with the country’s own funds and it is now a testament to the capability and bravery of the country.
An ACC investigation proved all the fictitious bribery allegations baseless.
Sahabuddin Chuppu, a former commissioner of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), told a local television that the allegations that a conspiracy was hatched to commit corruption were all intentional.
A three-member team visited Dhaka to investigate the alleged corruption of the World Bank. The group was led by Luis Moreno Ocampo, chief lawyer of the International Criminal Court. Despite meeting with the ACC, they could not provide any evidence of corruption conspiracy.
Chuppu said that the invisible diary has also been created and the e-mail on the basis of which silent recruitment of agents has been mentioned has also proved to be baseless.
Opposition political parties continued to heat up the field. Meanwhile, the Padma Bridge is now awaiting inauguration on June 25.
