Bangladesh government wants to start the construction work for the multi-billion dollar Padma Bridge project, according to the Communication Minister
Obaidul Quader said on Tuesday: “The World Bank chapter is now closed as far as the Padma Bridge is concerned. The government aims to start the construction of the project, (that is our priority) and not to finish it.”
The government on Feb 1 informed the global lender that it was formally withdrawing its bid for loans to co-finance the $2.9 billion Padma Bridge project. The World Bank had pledged $1.2 billion in by far the biggest infrastructure project in Bangladesh.
Quader, however, was quick to clarify that the government had no intention of locking horns with the Bank and it was still financing 30 projects in Bangladesh with a cost of around $4 billion.
Without delving into details, he said various reasons had contributed to the crisis between the Bank and the government over the Padma Bridge project.
The minister reiterated that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina would announce packages for foreign and domestic financing of the country’s biggest infrastructure project so far.
He said the Economic Relations Division (ERD) will ink a Tk 220 billion agreement with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) on Feb 20 for metro-rail. The Communications Minister added that the government would provide Tk 50 billion of the total amount. “The metro-rail infrastructure construction work will begin in September this year and will end by 2024,” he hoped.
Quader said Hasina will inaugurate the “articulated bus” on Feb 17 and Mirpur-Banani flyover on Mar 27.
However, the minister could not say how 30 BRTC (Bangladesh Road Transport Corporation) buses were ‘lost’ due to vandalism and arson.bdnews24.com
