Kamal asks Yunus to clear himself of charge that he blocked World Bank funding for Padma Bridge

Planning Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal has asked Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus to rebut the charge of blocking World Bank funding for the Padma Bridge project.

Jafor Ahmedbdnews24.com
Published : 6 May 2015, 04:03 PM
Updated : 6 May 2015, 05:06 PM

“Why is he (Yunus) not clearing himself despite a controversy involving him. This has been going on for a long time, but why he is not coming forward to clear his position?”
 
Kamal was speaking in a press conference on Wednesday.
 
The World Bank was to give a loan of $1.2 billion for the project but withdrew following differences with the government over investigations into allegations of suspected corruption.
 
The government finally decided to go ahead with the project by mobilising its own funds.
 
The Sheikh Hasina government got into a row with Yunus over his removal from the post of Grameen Bank managing director.

Later, Awami League leaders alleged that Yunus played a role in the World Bank’s withdrawal from the Padma Bridge project.

At the meeting of the Executive Committee of National Economic Council (ECNEC) on Tuesday, Prime Minister Hasina referred to newspaper reports that said Yunus had made then US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to call World Bank to stop the project.

When the planning minister faced the reporters with updated data on inflation, they asked him questions about the ECNEC meeting.

“I won’t comment on the prime minister’s speech,” Mustafa Kamal said at first.

He then urged Yunus to put the debate to rest soon.

“I am not saying anything against Mr Yunus. I am just requesting him to make his position clear on the allegation against him,” he said.

He was asked if Yunus had that much power to stop World Bank from funding the project. Kamal raised another question: “If he is that kind of person, how did he get the Nobel prize?”

“He is a renowned man, a son of Bangladesh. What would he have stood to lose if the Padma Bridge was built?” the planning minister asked.

About the World Bank’s allegation of corruption in the project, he said, “I heard a lot that there was corruption. But no one revealed it.”

The Anti-Corruption Commission investigated the allegation of corruption in the project and said it found nothing.