Business | General
Dhaka watchdog clears minister of allegation
Second part of investigation still under way
- By Anisur Rahman, Correspondent
- Published: 00:00 February 4, 2012
Dhaka: Bangladesh's Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has formally absolved a minister of graft allegations brought by the World Bank about a $2.93 billion (Dh10.75 billion) project saying it found no evidence of malpractice in appointing the contractor of the proposed Padma Bridge project.
"The graft allegation [by the World Bank] has not been proved, based on the documentary and verbal evidence we [ACC] have" against former Communication Minister Syed Abul Hussain, the graft watchdog chairman Gulam Rahman told a press briefing late yesterday.
He added: "The ACC does not think any corruption was committed in the pre-qualification bidding process" of the main construction work of the Padma Bridge project, which was carried out when Hussain was in charge.
Under a cabinet reshuffle, Prime Minister Shaikh Hasina, however, changed Hussain's portfolio and made him the minister of Information and Communication Technology recently.
The commission yesterday disclosed the finding of its inquiry into the allegation of corruption over the construction of the main bridge, but the ACC chief said investigation into the second part of the allegation of corruption in the appointment of the supervising consultant was still under way.
Hasina had earlier warned that her government would not accept World Bank funds for the mega project unless it could prove the allegation it raised while the global lending agency said it awaited a Canadian police investigation report on graft allegations.
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