‘Door open to WB for Padma finance’

Bangladesh has kept the door open for the World Bank to get on board the Padma Bridge project again, if it is interested.

Finance Minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith revealed Dhaka's stance in a meeting with the World Bank Country Director Johannes Zutt on Tuesday.

“I said this before and am saying again that they (World Bank) should have tackled the issue of corruption staying on the Padma project," Muhith told reporters.

The lead agency pulled out of the $2.9 billion project, Bangladesh's largest till date, suspecting corruption in June 2012. Other co-lenders, the ADB, IDB and JICA, went its way.

The Washington-based agency had committed $1.2 billion in loans, while the Manila-based ADB pledged $610 million, Jeddah-based IDB $140 million and JICA $400 million.

Bangladesh was supposed to bankroll the rest of the funds.

The government, bitter after a long tussle with the bank, withdrew its funding request in January last year and announced to go ahead with the project with domestic funds.

"They (the World Bank) have wasted our two years," Muhith said Tuesday adding that Bangladesh had moved on with the project.

An international tender was floated in June last year for construction of the bridge's core structure.

"Now, if they (World Bank) want to get involved, they'll have to join us where we stand now," the minister asserted.

Bangladesh in June this year signed a deal with China Major Bridge Engineering Company Limited for constructing the main bridge within four years for a budget of Tk 121.32 billion.

Once in service, the 6.15-km bridge connecting 21 southern districts with the capital, is expected to boost the GDP by as much as 1.2 percent.

Local office chief Zutt, when asked about their latest position on the project, said the World Bank should not wind up from Bangladesh.

He said: "If (we) discover incident of corruption in Bangladesh as in any other country in the world, we should not cease to engage with that country to help it to address its development problems.

"But we should engage differently.”

Zutt was of the view that his agency should help the government to understand what was driving ‘these type of corrupt practices’ and to deal with them in a professional way.