UNB, Dhaka :
Criticising again the ‘role of Dr Yunus’ in the process of cancellation promised fund by the World Bank , Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Thursday said she does not know whether people will try that reputed person for his act that caused a big loss to the country.
Without mentioning the name of Dr Yunus, she said there are some people, especially the one, who had caused immense losses to the country by halting the promised World Bank fund to Padma Bridge only to cling to the Managing Director’s post of a bank. “I don’t know, whether the people of the country would try such act (of Yunus),” she said. Referring to the recent verdict of a Canadian court rejecting the allegation of corruption in the Padma Bridge construction, Sheikh Hasina also said the dignity and image of the country’s people would never be tarnished by herself or by her family members.
“Many ill-attempts were made to implicate me and my family members (into the allegation of corruption in the Padma Bridge project). I cannot describe in words the extent of (mental) torture was inflicted on my sister, my son and daughter. As I’m running the country with utmost honesty no one would find any deviation,” she said.
The Prime Minister was addressing a programme marking the National Jute Day-2017 held at the auditorium of the Krishibid Institution, Bangladesh in the city. The Jute Day was observed in the country on March 6.
Without uttering the name of the multilateral lending agency, the Prime Minister said they often gave many suggestions, and reacted differently if their suggestions went unheeded.
Blasting the role of the then MD of Grameen Bank, the Prime Minister alleged that a reputed person of the country had hatched a big conspiracy and halted the funding of the World Bank for the Padma Bridge, which was very much vital for the people of the southern region affected much due to climate change.
“By the grace of Almighty Allah, we’ll definitely construct this bridge and through this the image of the country will get brightened,” she said.
“I accepted the challenge as there was no corruption. I then told them (World Bank) that would not receive their funding for the project until they prove their allegation,” he said.
Chaired by Textiles and Jute Minister Md Emaj Uddin Pramanik, the function was addressed, among others, by Industries Minister Amir Hossain Amu, State Minister for the Textiles and Jute Ministry Mirza Azam, Parliamentary Standing Committee Chairman on the Ministry Saber Hossain Chowdhury. Textiles and Jute Ministry Acting Secretary Gopal Krishna Bhattacharjee delivered the welcome address.
Earlier in February, a court in Canada acquitted three business executives of charges that SNC-Lavalin Group Inc staff planned to bribe Bangladesh officials in a bid to win a $50 million contract to supervise the Padma Bridge construction.
The three acquitted in the judgment are former SNC vice-president of energy and infrastructure Kevin Wallace, former SNC vice-president of international development Ramesh Shah and Bangladeshi-Canadian businessman Zulfiquar Ali Bhuiyan.
The charges against two other accused in the case-Mohammad Ismail and Abdul Hasan Chowdhury-had been dismissed earlier.
The World Bank alleged corruption in Padma Bridge project and began investigation in 2010.
It requested the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) to take necessary actions based on the evidence they got during their own investigations and from ‘four informants’, whom the court has now called ‘tipsters’.
Criticising again the ‘role of Dr Yunus’ in the process of cancellation promised fund by the World Bank , Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Thursday said she does not know whether people will try that reputed person for his act that caused a big loss to the country.
Without mentioning the name of Dr Yunus, she said there are some people, especially the one, who had caused immense losses to the country by halting the promised World Bank fund to Padma Bridge only to cling to the Managing Director’s post of a bank. “I don’t know, whether the people of the country would try such act (of Yunus),” she said. Referring to the recent verdict of a Canadian court rejecting the allegation of corruption in the Padma Bridge construction, Sheikh Hasina also said the dignity and image of the country’s people would never be tarnished by herself or by her family members.
“Many ill-attempts were made to implicate me and my family members (into the allegation of corruption in the Padma Bridge project). I cannot describe in words the extent of (mental) torture was inflicted on my sister, my son and daughter. As I’m running the country with utmost honesty no one would find any deviation,” she said.
The Prime Minister was addressing a programme marking the National Jute Day-2017 held at the auditorium of the Krishibid Institution, Bangladesh in the city. The Jute Day was observed in the country on March 6.
Without uttering the name of the multilateral lending agency, the Prime Minister said they often gave many suggestions, and reacted differently if their suggestions went unheeded.
Blasting the role of the then MD of Grameen Bank, the Prime Minister alleged that a reputed person of the country had hatched a big conspiracy and halted the funding of the World Bank for the Padma Bridge, which was very much vital for the people of the southern region affected much due to climate change.
“By the grace of Almighty Allah, we’ll definitely construct this bridge and through this the image of the country will get brightened,” she said.
“I accepted the challenge as there was no corruption. I then told them (World Bank) that would not receive their funding for the project until they prove their allegation,” he said.
Chaired by Textiles and Jute Minister Md Emaj Uddin Pramanik, the function was addressed, among others, by Industries Minister Amir Hossain Amu, State Minister for the Textiles and Jute Ministry Mirza Azam, Parliamentary Standing Committee Chairman on the Ministry Saber Hossain Chowdhury. Textiles and Jute Ministry Acting Secretary Gopal Krishna Bhattacharjee delivered the welcome address.
Earlier in February, a court in Canada acquitted three business executives of charges that SNC-Lavalin Group Inc staff planned to bribe Bangladesh officials in a bid to win a $50 million contract to supervise the Padma Bridge construction.
The three acquitted in the judgment are former SNC vice-president of energy and infrastructure Kevin Wallace, former SNC vice-president of international development Ramesh Shah and Bangladeshi-Canadian businessman Zulfiquar Ali Bhuiyan.
The charges against two other accused in the case-Mohammad Ismail and Abdul Hasan Chowdhury-had been dismissed earlier.
The World Bank alleged corruption in Padma Bridge project and began investigation in 2010.
It requested the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) to take necessary actions based on the evidence they got during their own investigations and from ‘four informants’, whom the court has now called ‘tipsters’.
