Former Communications Minister Syed Abul Hossain has criticised the World Bank panel’s investigation report on the alleged corruption in Padma bridge project, saying it is an example of the global lender’s ‘coerciveness’.
In a statement on Wednesday, he said the panel’s final report was devoid of “innovation, logic, proof, integrity and jurisprudence”.
The report is in contempt of the international law, basic individual rights and laws and legislation of a sovereign country, Hossain said.
He was one of the key suspects in an alleged bribery charge to appoint Canadian construction giant SNC-Lavalin as the consultant for the 6.15-kilometre long rail-road bridge project.
In a statement issued on a Parliament pad, Abul Hossain MP claimed the report was a “prime example of international coercion”.
He claimed the Bank’s external panel had failed to establish his involvement in the said corruption conspiracy and had put illogical pressure on the Anti-Corruption Commission and the government to put him on the list of suspects.
Hossain had bowed out of Sheikh Hasina’s Cabinet amid the graft allegations were made.
The panel’s report was published on Tuesday on the World Bank’s website. Earlier on Jun 11, the Bank’s Bangladesh Representative handed over a copy of the report to Finance Minister AMA Muhith.
In its report, the World Bank panel questioned the ACC investigation for leaving out Hossain from the list of suspects. However, outgoing ACC chief Ghulam Rahman said the former minister was not included in the list due to lack of evidence.
Bangladesh withdrew its $1.2 billion funding request from the Bank early this year and efforts are on to bridge the mighty Padma with its own resources.
An external panel of the Washington-based lender led by Luis Moreno-Ocampo visited Dhaka last year to observe the ACC investigations into the graft allegations.
After initial investigations, the ACC filed a case implicating former Bridges Division Secretary Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan and six other high-ranking government officials. Hossain was spared.
The World Bank panel said they the national corruption watchdog’s investigation did not appear to be full and fair.
“The Panel maintains that there were no legal reasons to exclude the name of the former Minister of Communications from the initial list of persons under investigation,” the report said.
Abul Hossain criticised such observation saying it was “unacceptable and a wrong judgment”.
He claimed the allegation concerning ‘unethical opportunities’ in a bid to appoint SNC-Lavalin as the project’s consultant was “not true at all”.
It gives out a wrong signal in justifying clarity, neutrality, integrity, and justness, Hossain said.
He said the tender evaluation committee had the main responsibility to appoint consultant. The process to appoint consultant was finalised after coordination between the evaluation committee and the World Bank.
“Looking for my involvement with it (the process) is motivated,” the former Communications Minister said.
Hossain claimed he could not be implicated in the conspiracy to exchange bribe in the project under the definition of ‘bribery’ given at the UN anti-corruption convention.
According to media reports, he was supposed to receive four percent of the value of the SNC-Lavalin contract – an allegation he vehemently denies.
Source: Bd news24
There is a saying in Bangla, “Churi to Churi, Seena Churi”. Shame on the shameless………..Abul Hossain.