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Bridge with Own Fund

Opposition leaders term it a farce

Ruling AL to encourage people to donate money

SHAKHAWAT LITON and RASHIDUL HASAN
The BNP-led opposition combine plans to gear up campaign against the government's decision to construct the Padma Bridge with its own fund even by issuing sovereign bonds to collect $750 million.
A number of ruling Awami League lawmakers yesterday said they would counter the opposition's campaign and engage party men to collect donation from people for the construction.
Given the prevailing situation, the country's politics is set to be focused on the bridge's construction, drawing
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everyone's attention to it.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Sunday in parliament announced hergovern-ment would build the Padma Bridge with its own fund and construction will begin in the current fiscal year.
Her announcement came nine days after the World Bankpulled out of the bridge project citing corruption conspiracy.
Terming the government's decision a "farce" and "anti-people", some opposition leaders yesterday said they would not remain silent allowing the government and the ruling party to "mislead" people to hide their failure to get donor funds for the mega project.
They also vehemently opposed the government's decision to issue sovereign bonds to collect $750 million claiming that it would bring a catastrophe forthe country.
"It is not practical and applicable for a country like Bangladesh. It will bring destructive impact. Eurozone is now burning because of disastrous impacts of sovereign bonds. How Bangladesh will manage sovereign bonds to get benefit?" said BNP leaderMKAnwar.
Terming the sovereign bond a "spark of fire," Anwar, a member of BNP's national standing committee, said if Bangladesh issues sovereign bonds, its position in the global credit rating will decrease.
"If the government spends reserve for the Padma Bridge, it will cause increasing inflation and add to people's sufferings," Anwar argued.
The opposition leaders also fear ruling party men may engage in "rampant extortion" in the name of collecting money from people to help the government to construct the bridge.
"I fear it will be a festival of looting of people's money. Ruling party men will collect money from people in the name of Padma Bridge fund, but they will embezzle the money," said BNP leader MoududAhmed.
Moudud, another member
of BNP's national standing committee, said they will raise voices more loudly against the government's "whimsical" decision, which he said will create chaos in the country.
"At seminars, rallies and discussions, we will speak about the real situation and make people aware of the government's political bluff," Moudud added.
Jamaat-e-Islami MP Hamidur Rahman Azad, also secretary of Jamaat's Dhaka city unit, said people were already annoyed with the government's dealing with the Padma Bridge.
"We will now convince the people about the govern-ment'swhimsicaldecision."
Contacted by The Daily Star, a number of ruling AL lawmakers however rejected outright the opposition's fears and allegations. They said they would try their best to assist the government by encouragingpeople to donate money to build the bridge.
"I along with my party men will visit different areas, businesspeople and local elites in my constituency and will urge them to donate money to Padma bridge fund," said ruling AL MP Kamal Ahmed Majumder of Dhaka-15 constituency.
"Even I will urge guardians of students studying in all educational institutions in my constituency to donate as per their solvency," said Kamal, who also chairs the governing bodies of several educational institutions in his constituency.
"I hope I will be able to collect a big amount of money for construction of the bridge."
AL MP Khalid Mahmud Chowdhury, also one of the joint general secretaries of the party, said after the premier's Sunday announcement, his party men in his district of Dinajpur have already started working on how to coordinate collection of money from cross-section of people.
"I think the prime minister will open an account to receive donation from people and we will send the money to thataccount," he said.
AL MP Motiur Rahman
from Tangail-3 said as a doctor he would campaign in the doctors' community to raise fund for the bridge.
“In my constituency there are also several educational institutions where thousands of students study. I will try to collect as much money as I can from them for the Padma bridge construction,” Motiur said.
Chittagong-1 lawmaker Mosharraf Hossain said there are over five lakh voters in his constituency and if they donate taka ten each, the amount would beTk 50 lakh.
“I myself will monitor the collection of money in my areas and will hand it over to the Padma bridge fund," he said.
When the prime minister on Sunday announced her government's decision to build the bridge with its own money, ruling alliance MPs instantly made a commitment that they would donate their one month's remuneration to the mega project.
On the MPs' donation, KamalAhmed Majumder, MP, said he would like to donate his total remuneration of the nextone anda halfyears.
Rashed Khan Menon, chief of Workers Party, a component of AL-led alliance, said his party highly lauded the PM's decision and his party MPs will donate their one month's remuneration.
But the opposition MPs took the issue of donation in a different way. "It's a funny matter," commented BNP MP MK An war.
Moudud said: "There are some MPs who can donate their entire month's salaries as they loot public money. But there are MPs who are not too solvent to donate the whole amount of money."
Hamidur Rahman Azad, MP, of Jamaat-e-Islami, a component of BNP-led alliance, said: "Construction of Padma Bridge is not like building a shrine."
"The government has moved to punish 16 crore people, but it did not punish him who committed the corruption for which the World Bank has cancelled the credit agreement," Azad