Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was flanked by former communications minister Syed Abul Hossain and former Bridges Division secretary Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan, among others, on the dais when she inaugurated the Padma Bridge on Saturday.
Prime Minister's Economic Affairs Adviser Mashiur Rahman also joined the event.
The trio and several other individuals had been accused of corruption by the World Bank, triggering widespread criticism at home and abroad against the government.
The global lending agency suspended funds in September 2011 – five months after signing a $1.2-billion deal with Bangladesh – raising allegations of a corruption conspiracy against the trio over the supervising consultant contract.
The World Bank, Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica), Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Islamic Development Bank (IDB) were the initial investors in the $2.9-billion mega project.
On Saturday, Sheikh Hasina again slammed the World Bank for cancelling the financing of the project before releasing funds being motivated by some quarters.
In her speech, the premier also invited BNP chief Khaleda Zia to visit the bridge as she had said that the Awami League government would never be able to build the bridge with government funding.
“This is a happy occasion,” said Mercy Miyang Tembon, country director of the World Bank, who attended the inaugural function at Mawa in Munshiganj.
Talking to the media, she also congratulated Bangladesh on the completion of the project with domestic funding. "This is the time to move Bangladesh-World Bank relations forward. The Padma Bridge will make a huge contribution to the economic growth of Bangladesh," she added.
Economists say the bridge is expected to boost the country's GDP by 1.2-2%, and the rail link would add another 1% once opened next year.
The scandal and the humiliation
The World Bank raised the allegations in a letter to then finance minister AMA Muhith in September 2011.
In a statement issued on June 29, 2012, the World Bank said that it had credible evidence, a diary, corroborated by a variety of sources that points to a high-level corruption conspiracy among Bangladeshi government officials, executives of Canadian company SNC-Lavalin, and private individuals in connection with the Padma Multipurpose Bridge Project.
The World Bank demanded that the government take severe action against the high-level corruption it said it had unearthed.
The government complied as it wanted to ensure quick execution of the dream project with foreign funds, and continued negotiations with the co-financiers.
On December 17, 2012, the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) filed a case of “conspiracy for corruption in the Padma Bridge project” against seven people, with Mosharraf as the prime suspect.
The other accused were Bangladesh Bridge Authority superintendent engineer Kazi Mohammad Ferdous, Roads and Highways executive engineer Riaz Ahmad Jaber, Engineering Planners Consultant Ltd’s Deputy Managing Director Mohammad Mostafa, Director of International Projects at the SNC-Lavalin Mohammed Ismail, and the firm’s former vice presidents Ramesh Saha and Kevin Wallace.
Among them, Mosharraf, Kazi Ferdous and Riaz Ahmad were arrested. Syed Abul Hossain and Abul Hasan Chowdhury were dropped from the list of the accused but kept under observation.
Also Read
- PM Hasina asks Khaleda Zia to visit Padma Bridge
- Pakistan PM congratulates Bangladesh on Padma Bridge inauguration
- World Bank congratulates Bangladesh on inaugurating Padma Bridge
The diary
The corruption allegations came based on a diary of SNC-Lavalin official Ramesh Shah that contained a list of recipients of 10-12% commissions for the appointment of a supervising consultant for the Padma Bridge project.
It said: “Padma PCC, 4% Min, 2% Kaiser, 2% Nixon, 1% Secretary and 1% Moshi Rahman.”
According to the document, “Min” refers to Syed Abul Hossain, “Kaiser” refers to former state minister for foreign affairs Abul Hasan Chowdhury and “Nixon” to the prime minister’s nephew Mujibur Rahman MP. “Secretary” is former Bridges Division secretary Mosharraf while “Moshi Rahman” is the PM’s Adviser Mashiur Rahman. A 2% commission was set aside for someone whose name was not mentioned.
Canadian police investigated the case based on a complaint by the World Bank and the ACC officials visited Toronto to observe the trial process.
Meanwhile, Malaysia and China expressed interest in financing the project, but Bangladesh decided to build the bridge with its own funds.
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 river training, and China Railway Group Ltd for the rail link.
In 2017, a Toronto court cleared two former officials of the engineering giant SNC-Lavalin and a Bangladeshi-Canadian businessman of the charge of planning to bribe Bangladeshi officials.
The court said the information provided in the case was nothing more than speculation, gossip and rumour.
Speaking at a party event in Dhaka on May 22, PM’s Adviser Mashiur Rahman said that the World Bank had offered him a job in the US at the same time.
"The offer they came up with was irrelevant. They would reward someone they brought graft allegations against. The thought behind this was that I took a tough stance against this conspiracy,” he added.
"The moment the World Bank made that statement, some senior people, influential people, some of my friends [who are also involved with the AL], and well-wishers recommended that I leave my responsibility and the country as well. But I said that I would lose my ground to stand on if I left the country," said Mashiur, who broke down in tears.
