Corruption inflated mega project costs: Bridges minister

Road Transport and Bridges Minister Shaikh Rabiul Alam today (11 May) said the Padma Bridge could have been built at a lower cost and alleged that mega projects enabled large-scale corruption, capital flight and rising foreign debt.

Speaking after laying the foundation stone of the Padma Bridge Museum at Jazira, he said that a huge amount of money has been siphoned off and large foreign loans left as burdens.

Rabiul Alam said 16 mega projects saw huge spending but many remained unfinished.

“Contractors fled from some sites, while work elsewhere has stalled. Due to corruption, international development partners are now reluctant to fund big projects,” he added.

The feasibility study for the Padma Bridge was carried out during the BNP government from 2002 to 2005, the minister said. Although questions were raised later about cost overruns, the bridge was finally built.

Costs could have been reduced if more transparency was ensured, he claimed. The minister also demanded legal action against those involved in wastage of money.

The Bangladesh Bridge Authority is building a modern museum beside the toll plaza on the Jazira end of the Padma Bridge. The four-storey building, costing around Tk40 crore, will preserve the bridge’s construction history, research materials, biodiversity and historical artefacts.

The museum will feature a model of the bridge, construction equipment, fishing gear and biodiversity samples of the Padma river region. It will provide exhibits for researchers, students and tourists.

The collected samples are temporarily preserved at service area-1 on the Mawa end. A total of 2,431 samples of 1,636 species have been collected, including mammals, birds, reptiles, fish, snails and oysters.

Mohammad Abdur Rouf chaired the event. State Minister Razib Ahsan along with local administration officials, including Syeed Ahmed Aslam, Tahsina Begum and Sheikh Sharif-Uz-Zaman, were present.