Padma Graft
ACC to work with WB, if loan revived
Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) Chairman Ghulam Rahman yesterday said the graft watchdog will work with the World Bank’s “panel of investigative experts” only if the
global lender revives its funding for the Padma bridge project.
“Scope for working jointly with the WB would be created if it makes a positive move for funding the project,” he told newsmen at his Segunbagicha office in the
capital.
The ACC cannot work with the WB on probing the alleged graft in the project without entering a memorandum of understanding with the WB, he added.
Last month, the graft watchdog agreed with a proposal of the WB for forming a three-member panel of international experts to investigate the alleged corruption.
Replying to a query, Ghulam Rahman said an ACC probe team will quiz former communications minister Syed Abul Hossain, if required.
Meanwhile, the ACC yesterday grilled former secretary of the Bridges Division Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan at its office for around three hours in connection with the
alleged irregularities in hiring a consultant for the project.
ACC Deputy Directors Mir Md Zainul Abedin Shebly and Mirza Zahidul Alam interrogated Mosharraf, currently executive chairman of Bangladesh Economic Zones Authority
(BEZA).
Talking to newsmen after facing the grilling, Mosharraf claimed himself to be a clean man. “An unidentified vested quarter sent emails to the Integrity Department of
the World Bank, alleging graft in the project. Some junior officials of the bank dealt with it inefficiently.”
Asked about his involvement in corruption, he said, “I was not involved in the graft. The World Bank and Canadian police never said that.”
He asked the authorities concerned to find out those who had communicated to the Integrity Department of the WB to halt the project and damage the country’s image.
Following a request by the WB in October last year, the ACC launched two investigations into the allegations of corruption in the main bridge project and in the
appointment process of Canadian consultancy firm SNC-Lavalin.
The bank on June 29 cancelled its $1.2 billion fund for the project citing corruption concerns.
Courtesy of The Daily Star
