Staff Reporter :
Former communications minister Syed Abul Hossain and former Bridges Division secretary Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan were present when Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the Padma Bridge on Saturday.
At the inaugural programme, Dr. Mashiur Rahman, Economic Affairs Advisor to the PM, was also present.
When Syed Abul Hossain entered the inaugural stage and greeted the PM by touching her feet.
A representative of the World Bank, the lending agency that withdrew from the project raising allegations of corruption, also attended the inaugural function at Mawa in Munshiganj.
Syed Abul Hossain was mentioned as a suspect in the case filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) in 2012 against seven persons, including the then secretary, Mosharraf, as the prime suspect.
Both of them were removed from their respective positions amid criticisms.
They were exonerated from the allegations of corruption in the Padma Bridge project in 2019 after a Canadian court found the allegations to be baseless.
Sheikh Hasina recently slammed the World Bank, the BNP and several individuals for plotting to thwart the Awami League government’s initiative to build the megastructure, which is expected to boost the country’s GDP by 1.2pc.
In 2012, the World Bank raised allegations of corruption in the tender process of the mega infrastructure project.
The World Bank, JICA, Asian Development Bank and the Islamic Development Bank were the initial investors of the mega project. The World Bank pledged to finance $1.2 billion.
On Saturday, the World Bank congratulated Bangladesh on the completion and inauguration of the Padma Multipurpose Bridge with domestic funding.
“This is a happy occasion,” said World Bank Country Director for Bangladesh Mercy Miyang Tembon, while joining the inauguration program of Padma Bridge at the Mawa end.
“This is the time to surge Bangladesh-World Bank relations forward. The Padma Bridge will make a huge contribution to the economic growth of Bangladesh,” she added.
A Toronto court cleared two former officials of engineering giant SNC-Lavalin and a Bangladeshi-Canadian businessman in 2017, from the charge of planning to bribe Bangladeshi officials to secure a consultancy contract in the Padma Bridge project.
In a statement issued on June 29, 2012, the World Bank said that it had credible evidence corroborated by a variety of sources that points to a high-level corruption conspiracy among Bangladeshi government officials, SNC-Lavalin executives, and private individuals in connection with the Padma Multipurpose Bridge Project.
The World Bank demanded that the government took severe action against the high-level corruption they had unearthed. On December 17, 2012, the ACC filed the case of “conspiracy for corruption in the Padma Bridge project” against seven people.
Finally, the construction of the bridge started on November 26, 2014.
China Major Bridge Company under China Railway Group Limited was contracted for the construction of the main bridge; Sinohydro Corporation Limited of China for the link road and the river training, while China Railway Group Ltd for the rail link.
Bangladesh Army, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (Buet) and Korea Expressway Corporation and Associates supervised the bridge construction.
