Bangladesh is going to inaugurate its dream project, the Padma Bridge, with its own funds.
But all we know is that the journey was not so smooth because the World Bank withdrew its $1.2 billion loan for the Padma Bridge construction in 2012, citing corruption allegations that were later rejected by a Canadian court.
The decision strained relations between Bangladesh and the World Bank.
Processes to issue a loan
When the World Bank intends to lend money to a country, it first requires two things from the government.
The first is Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSP), while the second is Country Assistance Strategy (CAS).
Following receipt of this information, the World Bank begins assessing the project, which included project identification, preparation, appraisal, approval, implementation and supervision, complementation, and assessment.
Following receipt of the PRSP and CAS, to begin with, the World Bank's CAS sets the World Bank's approach for assisting a country, and as previously indicated, the CAS in low-income countries is centered on the country's PRSP aims.
The aims specified in the CAS Guide are a useful source of information for individuals and organizations interested in identifying potential areas of World Bank lending.
During the recognition process, the World Bank's teams collaborate with the government, and determine which projects can be sponsored in the context of the agreed-upon development objectives.
When a project is defined, the World Bank team generates a project design note, which is an internal text that details the project's important aspects - the proposed project, the intended purpose, potential threats, project possibilities, and a likely project acceptance timeframe.
Following that, depending on the magnitude of the anticipated project, the planning phase might take anything from a few months to three years, depending on the country with which the World Bank works.
The World Bank serves as a resource, providing information and advice as needed.
During this time, the project's scientific, structural, economic, environmental, and budgetary obstacles will be analyzed and discussed, as well as the possibility of other approaches to accomplishing the same aims.
The World Bank requests that all plans submitted for funding be evaluated to ensure that they are both viable and environmentally sustainable.
The breadth of the environmental review is determined by the initiative's scope and future impact.
The following items are included in the project documentation at this time: study of environmental impact, indigenous peoples development plan, and environmental action plan.
Then, the appraisal comes; appraisal experts of the World Bank inspect the project cycle work done during detection and planning.
After that, they spend 3-4 weeks analyzing the project's financial elements with team financial management.
The documents prepared at this stage are released to the public after they have been approved.
After the World Bank's staff evaluates the proposed project, they and the respective government requesting to borrow cash discuss the project's final form.
After the negotiations, the loan's terms and conditions are agreed upon by both parties.
The project evaluation or program document is then presented to the World Bank's board of executive directors for approval.
The project's implementation is the responsibility of the borrowing country.
The borrowing government creates specifications and reviews bids when the loan is approved.
This action is reviewed by the World Bank to ensure that its procurement criteria are followed.
After that, the World Bank's Independent Evaluation Group conducts an audit when a project is completed.
The audit entails going over the final report and generating a separate report.
Both reports are submitted by the executive directors and the borrower.
But they haven't made this report public.
This demonstrates that they adhere to a functioning procedure in which all steps are followed.
Through this long process and with the evaluation, assess the impact of development projects (funded by the World Bank) on indigenous people and the environment.
Actually, the main concern is whether the way of living, the increase of capability and the condition of the environment has improved or not.
The author is an international commercial law expert
