Communication Minister Obaidul Quader says his answer to opposition criticism on the Padma bridge project was to get it started on time.
” That will be the right answer to all this criticism . We will get the work on the project started in due time,” Quader said, while unveiling the plaque of a bridge on Sylhet-Sunamganj road on Friday.
The BNP-led opposition had alleged that work on the much hyped Padma Bridge would not begin during the tenure of the Awami League government.
According to the Minister, 14 briges on the Sylhet-Sunamganj road were being constructed with the help of Japan-based lending agency JICA.
The World Bank, the biggest sponsor for the project stopped its pledged $ 1.2 billion fund for the 6-km-long Padma bridge after allegations of suspected corruption surfaced.
Though the global lender reviewed its decision later and said it will consider funding, it said it will do so only if satisfied with the investigations into the allegations of corruption.
To monitor the investigations, the external panel was constituted led by Luis Moreno-Ocampo, former International Criminal Court Chief Prosecutor.
The ACC has said that though they have no evidence of bribes, they have found traces of a ‘conspiracy to exchange bribes’ involving seven persons that included senior officials and executives of Canadian company SNS-Lavalin.
The case is under prosecution at the moment.bdnews24.com
