WB move deliberate
The deliberate move by the World Bank (WB) suspending loans to the much-awaited Padma Bridge project is not rational, a rights group claimed yesterday.
“The World Bank is intentionally delaying the construction of Padma Bridge through illogical interference,” said Kazi Shafikur Rahman, a coordinator of Sushasoner Jonno Procharavijan (Supro), or campaign for good governance, from a human chain in the city.
The WB-pledged $1.2 billion, of the $ 2.9 billion project, has been suspended over alleged corruption charges in the tender process favouring the Canadian company SNC-Lavalin for the job of supervising the construction of the main bridge, which apparently pushed the construction into uncertainty.
The Canadian firm which was short-listed as the lowest bidder is yet to get the contract for the $50 million job.
The human chain programme in front of the National Museum at Shahbagh on Wednesday was organised to protest the unjust debt and foreign aid and uncalled for interference of international financial institutions (IFIs).
The rights group has taken up programmes at both national and district levels to observe “Global Week of Action against Debt and IFIs” from October 10 to 17.
It demands unconditional cancellation of all outstanding foreign debts by the rich countries and IFIs, pointing out that the country, on an average, has to spend a total of $ 1,070 million on payment of interest and principal in a year.
The average public debt in Bangladesh was only $6.56 per head in 1974 that reached a whooping $151 in 2011. The country's debt to rich nations, WB, International Monetary Fund (IMF) and Asian Development Bank (ADB) comes at the expense of essential investment in education, health care and environmental services, Supro said from the human chain.
“We also want rich countries to keep their promise to provide 0.7 percent of their GDP (gross domestic product) to the poor countries to achieve the Millennium Development Goals,” said Saif Uddin Ahmed, another coordinator of the group.
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