Editorial
Failed WB negotiations
Coterie interest subverts a national priority
On the heels of the World Bank president's remark in Washington that the Bank won't go for funding Padma Bridge until its conditions were met, the government has withdrawn its request for WB financing the bridge through a letter to the global lender.
To all appearances, the decision has been made out of a sense of wounded pride rather than any pragmatic consideration. The question is whose pride was at stake that could compromise national interest? We are sorry that the negotiations fell through.
Implementation of the Padma Bridge project involves two clusters of issues. One is about construction that entailed the full gamut of issues from the technical like engineering designing to fixing supervisory roles of different authorities to meeting desired standards. Again, there is the cluster of issues concerning financial package that included negotiating with donors about nature of financing, its terms and conditions as well as the repayment schedule.
The design was in place and the loan agreement with the donors was settled. Everything was in hand, when pride came in the way and scuttled it all. The government seemed keen on creating an impression that it was reluctant to yield to World Bank's pressure.
First the WB's pointer was to a group, then it came down to a few and ultimately it was down to an individual. But the government was intent on shielding him. A matter of national interest has thus been sacrificed at the altar of coterie interest.
The prime minister has suggested constructing a road bridge minus railway thereby throwing to the winds the benefits that would have accrued from railway connectivity had the project been on with the global lender.
Whichever way one looks at the outcome, the decision is going to cost the nation hugely. What looked like an achievable goal has now slipped out of hand and has entered a territory full of uncertainty.
Such playing around with national interest neither serves the people, nor is it a hallmark of pragmatic leadership.
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