The government on Wednesday floated an international tender for the construction of the main infrastructure of the much-hyped Padma Bridge project, paving the way for implementing its election pledge.Director of Padma Multipurpose Bridge Project Shafiqul Islam confirmed UNB about the tender floating and said it would be available on the website of Bridges Division under the Communication Ministry from today (Wednesday).
Later, the tender invitation was put on the website of the Bridges Division around 2:30pm.
Earlier in the day, Communications Minister Obaidul Quader following a meeting with visiting Feng Zhenglin, vice minister of Transport and Communication Ministry, China, at his secretariat office told reporters that there will be no problem to have necessary allocation for the 6.15-km long bridge in the next budget.
He said they are going to float an international tender involving Tk 10,000 crore for the main work of the Padma Bridge project.
The minister also said another tender will be floated later for river training. The cost of the river training work will come from a separate allocation.
“With the invitation of the tender,” Obaidul said, “The aspiration of the country’s 14 crore people is going to be fulfilled.”
Quader said the Chinese government has proposed constructing a highway connecting Bangladesh-Kolkata-Myanmar-Kunming and the government gave nod to it and the process in this regard will start soon.
Once constructed, the country’s longest bridge over the mighty Padma River will connect Dhaka city with 21 southwestern districts. The construction of the bridge is expected to be completed in four years.
Following the cancellation of the $1.2 billion credit by the World Bank for the Padma Bridge project, the government has decided to construct it with internal resources.
The government has also allocated Tk 6,852 crore in the budget for fiscal 2013-2014 to implement the mega project with its own fund.
The construction process of the Tk 20,507 crore Padma Bridge, got stalled as development partners — the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the Islamic Development Bank and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) — cancelled their proposed funding bringing graft allegations.
The World Bank cancelled its $1.2 billion funding on June 29, 2012, saying it had the proof of a “corruption conspiracy” involving Bangladeshi officials, executives of a Canadian firm and some individuals.
On September 21, the bank revised its fund cancellation decision after an agreement with the government to carry out a fair investigation into the allegation of corruption in appointing a consultant firm for the bridge project.
Later on February 1 this year, the government withdrew its request for the World Bank’s Padma Bridge loan after the WB president in Washington said the financing for the project would not go ahead unless certain conditions are met. (Source: UNB)
