PADMA BRIDGE CORRUPTION CONSPIRACY -WB blames Abul, Mosharraf, 2 others
Shakhawat Hossain
The World Bank investigation named four people, including former communications minister Syed Abul Hossain and former bridges division secretary Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan, to have been involved in the corruption conspiracy in the the Padma Bridge project.The finance minister, Abul Maal Abdul Muhith, on Wednesday said that the World Bank had blamed Syed Abul Hossain and Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan for the conspiracy of corruption in the countrys biggest bridge project.
I have gone through the 11-page report and found names of four people, he told reporters in his secretariat office, a day after the World Bank had handed him the report.
He, however, did not disclose the identity of the two other people named in the report.
A three-member panel, led by former chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court Luis Moreno Ocampo, prepared the report.The report is based on observations of the panel about the investigation by the Anti-Corruption Commission against officials suspected to have been involved in corruption conspiracy in the project. The panel members also visited Bangladesh in October and December 2012.
Muhith observed that the WB external penal report was objective. He iterated
that no corruption had taken place in the project. There had been an attempt at corruption but that was foiled, he added.He said that the Anti-Corruption Commission would be asked to review its investigation in line with Word Bank suggestions.
The World Bank which levelled allegations of corruption and suspended $1.2 billion credit for the bridge project in June 2012 criticised the commission for not including the name of Syed Abul Hossain in its case filed in 2012.The World Bank earlier gave certain conditions, including an investigation by the commission and monitoring by the panel, for the resumption of funding.
But the government in January decided not to take the World Bank fund because of conditions being tagged to the funding one after another. The government decided to build the bridge with its own fund.
The communications minister, Obadul Quader, hoped that the government could invite international bids for the appointment of contractors for the main bridge construction and river training.Government officials hoped that the appointment of contractors might be completed by December.
WB blames Abul, Mosharraf, 2 others
Shakhawat Hossain
The World Bank investigation named four people, including former communications minister Syed Abul Hossain and former bridges division secretary Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan, to have been involved in the corruption conspiracy in the the Padma Bridge project.The finance minister, Abul Maal Abdul Muhith, on Wednesday said that the World Bank had blamed Syed Abul Hossain and Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan for the conspiracy of corruption in the countrys biggest bridge project.
I have gone through the 11-page report and found names of four people, he told reporters in his secretariat office, a day after the World Bank had handed him the report.
He, however, did not disclose the identity of the two other people named in the report.
A three-member panel, led by former chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court Luis Moreno Ocampo, prepared the report.The report is based on observations of the panel about the investigation by the Anti-Corruption Commission against officials suspected to have been involved in corruption conspiracy in the project. The panel members also visited Bangladesh in October and December 2012.
Muhith observed that the WB external penal report was objective. He iterated
that no corruption had taken place in the project. There had been an attempt at corruption but that was foiled, he added.He said that the Anti-Corruption Commission would be asked to review its investigation in line with Word Bank suggestions.
The World Bank which levelled allegations of corruption and suspended $1.2 billion credit for the bridge project in June 2012 criticised the commission for not including the name of Syed Abul Hossain in its case filed in 2012.The World Bank earlier gave certain conditions, including an investigation by the commission and monitoring by the panel, for the resumption of funding.
But the government in January decided not to take the World Bank fund because of conditions being tagged to the funding one after another. The government decided to build the bridge with its own fund.
The communications minister, Obadul Quader, hoped that the government could invite international bids for the appointment of contractors for the main bridge construction and river training.Government officials hoped that the appointment of contractors might be completed by December.
WB blames Abul, Mosharraf, 2 others
