“Absolutely not (involved in corruption), all concocted,” she said in her 14.55 minutes interview with CBC correspondent Terence McKenna. The CBC aired the interview on Thursday.
Hasina said that graft allegations regarding the Padma bridge project were not true.
In this connection, she mentioned that the World Bank, which was the lead lending agency for the project, also said that there was no corruption. “The World Bank itself said that there has been no corruption, (there was) only conspiracy of corruption.”
The Prime Minister further said that Awami League is not involved in any sort of corruption. Rather, her government is working hard to develop the country.
Construction of the US$ 2.9 billion Padma Bridge, the largest infrastructure project of the country, was stuck after the Washington-based World Bank refused to continue funding, alleging ‘a conspiracy to exchange bribes’.
When CBC correspondent Terence McKenna questioned about the evidence found by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), Hasina said: “It was not substantial evidence.”
Regarding the alleged corruption charges, she said that her government did not receive any substantial evidence. “We repeatedly asked the Canadian government and the World Bank to provide proof of corruption, but they failed to provide any specific evidence.”
The Prime Minister also said that the government sought evidence from Canada and World Bank and the Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) is working independently. “There has been no interfering in the investigations.”
When the CBC correspondent referred to the then Communications Minister Syed Abul Hossain as the unofficial ‘treasurer and cashier’ or ‘fund collector’ Awami League, Hasina also rejected this.
She said that if anyone stated that he (Abul Hossain) was in such position in the party, “it is wrong, completely wrong.”
The Prime Minister said that the multi-billion bridge was important for the economy of the southern region of the country. But she said the Padma Bridge tug-of-war did not impact on the country’s ties with the World Bank.
“Other projects of theirs are going on smoothly,” she added.
The CBC interviewer should have known that though ‘conspiracy’ is a despicable word to our PM, she does not mind if it’s done by any of her party leader or party activist. We are not surprised at her strong denial but sooner or later truth shall come out and the unfortunate ‘aam janata’ of this country will know to what depth corruption drove its root during the tenure of the present govt.