Published on 12:00 AM, July 25, 2012

Corruption allegations and Padma bridge

The World Bank has cancelled the loan for the construction work of Padma bridge on allegation of corruption in Bangladesh. The party in power led by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina refuses to accept such an allegation, saying it is baseless and unfounded. Recently, China has built the world's longest bridge on sea spanning over 26 miles at a cost of 1.6 billion dollars. The construction cost of the Padma bridge was estimated at 2.9 billion dollars, which is not even 4 miles in length. If China has been able to construct a bridge on sea spanning over 26 miles at a cost of 1.6 billion dollars, then why would Bangladesh require 2.9 billion dollars to construct a bridge which is even less then 1/6 in length of the Chinese bridge? The estimated cost of construction of the Padma bridge shows a significant difference of 1.3 billion dollars over the world's longest bridge ever built. Is this not a good enough proof of allegation of corruption by the World Bank against the party in power in Bangladesh? What does the party in power wants to prove by refuting the allegation of corruption by the World Bank? Time and again, Bangladesh has been found to be the most corrupt nation in the world by Transparency International. The then government protested those findings, but what is the result? Bangladesh continues to be a corrupt nation even till now. Should not the people put in their best to remove this stigma of allegation of corruption or do they take pride in being branded as a corrupt nation?