No decision on KL offer until WB issue resolved

Finance Minister AMA Muhith yesterday said the government will not decide on a Malaysian financing offer for the Padma bridge project before reaching a final decision on the proposal of World Bank.
An agreement with the WB in this regard has to be cancelled first before accepting the Malaysian proposal, he told newsmen at his secretariat office in the city.
The government is in discussion with the WB, he mentioned. “We are not sitting idle, but there is nothing worth telling as yet. We will tell you about the development in due time.”
On the Malaysian offer, the minister said they have sent the proposal to the Bridges Division.
The division has been examining the technical aspects of the proposal, while the finance ministry will evaluate the financial details.
Regarding the WB's allegations of graft, Muhith said it was the WB that first recommended a firm which itself had been accused of corruption.
The work on the Padma bridge project was going on smoothly, but all of a sudden the WB raised the graft complaint against a Canadian company and suspended its funding in the scheme, he maintained.