“We are happy that the bridge is complete and Bangladesh will benefit from it,” World Bank Country Director for Bangladesh Mercy Tembon told the media during the inauguration event on the Mawa end of the bridge.
Now is the time to move Bangladesh-World Bank relations forward. The Padma Bridge will make a huge contribution to the economic growth of Bangladesh, she said.
“This bridge will contribute to accelerating integrated growth in the country and reducing poverty,” she added.
The World Bank, which initially agreed to co-finance the construction of Padma Bridge, cancelled its loan alleging corruption over the appointment of consultants for the bridge.
The Washington-based agency had a loan deal amounting to US$1.2 billion with Bangladesh for the project involving an initial estimated cost of US$2.9 billion.
Other lenders, such as the Asian Development Bank, Japan International Cooperation Agency, and the Islamic Development Bank also backed out of financing the bridge, leaving the government quite off-guard and embarrassed.
But, neither a case by the Anti-Corruption Commission nor another in a Canadian court failed to prove the corruption allegations.
It was Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina who stood alone and decided to go ahead with the nearly US$4 billion project with the country’s own funds.
The government took a challenge and proceeded with the self-financing plan, keeping aside money in the annual budget for the Padma Bridge project. The construction began in December 2015.
Dispelling all clouds of uncertainties, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina finally inaugurated the long-awaited Padma Bridge, the longest in Bangladesh, connecting people on both sides of the Padma River.
The Padma Bridge project has been implemented at a cost of Tk30,193.39 crore with almost 100% internal funding which is believed to bring a new world to the country’s economy by connecting 21 southwestern districts through roads and railways with the capital.
The construction of the 6.15km (3.82 miles) bridge began in November 2015 to connect 21 districts of the country’s southwest with Dhaka via road and rail, thereby cutting travel time considerably.
The double-layer steel truss bridge incorporates a four-lane highway on an upper level along with a single-track railway on the lower level.
This is one of the largest mega projects Bangladesh has ever undertaken and the entire amount is financed by the Bangladesh government.
