Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina opened the longest bridge in the country, which took eight years to build and was plagued by delays, political conflicts, high costs and alleged grafts. ..
The opening of the bridge over the raging Padma River has achieved Hasina's important infrastructure goals and has been billed by the government as the jewel of his crown. Faced with international pressure and domestic criticism.
Construction of a 6-kilometer bridge by a Chinese company began in November 2015. The purpose is to connect the southwestern part of the country with the capital, Dhaka, by road and rail. The double-layer steel truss bridge incorporates a four-lane highway on the upper floors and a single-line railroad on the lower floors.
At a cost of $ 3.86 billion, this project is one of the largest projects Bangladesh has ever undertaken. Fully funded by the home government after the withdrawal of the World Bank and other global lenders from the project following a corruption scandal involving a Canadian construction company associated with the bridge.
Canadian engineering firm SNC-Lavalin has been accused of bridging the officials who oversee the project and has been banned from bidding on World Bank projects for 10 years. Canadian prosecutors eventually refused to pursue graft charges against company executives after the court ruled that some evidence of eavesdropping on them was unacceptable.
Sheikh Hasina has declared that her government will fund the project. Her decision faced a series of skepticism from national economists and political opponents as Bangladesh had never built such an infrastructure without financial support from multiple donors.
At the opening ceremony of the bridge on Saturday, Hasina reminded the crowd of her skepticism. "Some have said that we are always being watched over by others, but the country's father, Banga Bandu Sheikh Musiburu Rahman (Hassina's father), has taught us the importance of self-esteem. "
" This Padma Bridge is not a pile of bricks and cement, "she said. "This bridge is a symbol of Bangladesh's pride, honor and ability."
Why is the bridge important?
Mahfuz Anam, editor of The Daily Star, Bangladesh's most popular English daily newspaper, commented: Through it, about the practice of general donors.
Often Hasina's stubborn critic, Anam, writes that "many countries build their own bridges and use their own resources," but building this bridge is not possible. This is an important step for Bangladesh. Of countries that depend on distributions.
With a national election scheduled for next year, the construction of the bridge is seen by political experts as the most important achievement of the Hasina-led Awami League (AL) government's third consecutive term. Over 10 years.
The bridge serves as a direct gateway to the country's poor southwestern region, a major source of party political support. , And significantly reduce travel time. The mighty Padma River separates the southwest from Dhaka, forcing people to travel by slow-moving ferries or launches. Fresh food transported by truck often rots due to long journeys.
This bridge was built by the state-owned China Major Bridge Engineering Company Limited and is considered a milestone in Beijing's cooperation between China and Bangladesh. Chinese state media sought to claim it as part of the Belt and Road Infrastructure (BRI). This is a claim that the Bangladesh government rejected earlier this week.
Boosted by a growing economy and foreign exchange reserves, the Bangladesh government has previously rejected China's proposal to fund the construction of the bridge.
Economist Mustafizur Rahman told VOA that the Bangladesh bureaucracy was incapable of carrying out such a mega-project. "It's encouraging to be able to successfully complete a structure like the Padma Bridge. It's a great booster for us."
He also said that this bridge is the total domestic production of Bangladesh ( He said it would help grow GDP) by 1.3% annually, increasing employment, service sector activities and tourism in the Southwest.
According to experts, the construction of a bridge involving more than 4,000 engineers, one-third of which is Bangladesh engineer, is a major technical achievement.
The underwater pile of the bridge is 122 meters deep, is a world record and requires 41 stanchions. At some point of the river, the water flow is the second largest in the world after the Amazon River.
The cost is too high.
Opposition parties have criticized the Hasina government for trebling the bridge's construction budget from the original $ 1.2 billion, and authorities have built the bridge with the highest cost per kilometer. I blamed him.
Rumin Farhana, a member of the Bangladesh National Party (BNP), a major opponent of the country, told Congress that the Padma Bridge would be an example of a corruption textbook. "If you compare the Padma Bridge to other bridges that are similar or slightly longer, you can call it the Golden Bridge," she said.
Rumin quotes the cost of building the Bhupen Hazarika Bridge, the longest bridge in neighboring India, and states that the cost of building the 9km bridge is only $ 156 million. I did. "It is possible to build 30 Bupen Hazarica bridges in India at the expense of one Padma bridge here in Bangladesh," she said.
However, Dr. Shamim Z. Basnia, chair of the panel of experts on the Padma Bridge project, told VOA that comparing the Boupen Hazarica Bridge with the Padma Bridge is a "big mistake."
"There are bigger bridges in the world than the Padma Bridge, but no bridge is as big and unpredictable as the Padma River. River training alone requires spending over $ 1 billion, which is Added to the cost, "he said.
Speaking to VOA, Zia Hassan, a German-based Bangladeshi financial analyst and researcher, says that cost comparisons between bridges are often misleading because no two bridges are the same in the world. Said. "But at a cost of $ 3.69 billion across the Kelch Strait, the pile depth is similar (as Padma Bridge), but three times longer (18.1) compared to the Crimea Bridge, which was built in three years. Kilometers) are spending $ 3,868 million, with a view to the Padma Bridge, "he said.
The World Bank has stated that Bangladesh has the highest infrastructure costs in the world. This is due to lack of competition in the bidding process and rising land acquisition costs.
The same applies to the Padma Bridge. At Padma Bridge, a major construction contract was awarded to a single bidder (China Major Bridge Engineering Company, Ltd.) when other bidders refrained from submitting a complete quote (project bid). ). Land acquisition corruption has also been unearthed, "Hassan said.
