WB external panel leaves Dhaka

 

The WB country director along with a three-member external panel enters a hotel in the capital to hold talks with Anti-Corruption Commission on October 15. Photo: Focus BanglaStar Online Report

The three-member external panel of World Bank, assigned to review the investigation into the Padma bridge corruption allegation, left Dhaka on Tuesday wrapping up its two-day visit.
The panel members left Dhaka for their respective workplaces, a World Bank source said on Tuesday.
The panel headed by Luis Moreno Ocampo, former chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, arrived here on Sunday.
Timothy Tong, former commissioner of the Independent Commission Against Corruption of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, and Richard Alderman, former director of the UK Serious Fraud Office, are the two other members of the WB panel.
During the visit, the panel sat with the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) and talked about the investigation into the corruption charges centring the Padma bridge project.
It would prepare a report in a couple of weeks and share it with the Bangladesh government, ACC and WB, said Ellen Goldstein, WB country director in Bangladesh, Monday night.
The WB panel also met the officials of the project's co-financiers -- Asian Development Bank, Japan International Cooperation Agency and Islamic Development Bank -- during the trip.
On June 29, the WB cancelled the loan deal after the government failed to meet two of the four conditions set by the bank to release the fund.
The global lender appointed the external team after it announced on September 21 to revive its $1.2 billion loan deal for the $2.9 billion scheme.
The bank's announcement came after the Bangladesh government agreed to its terms and conditions, including sending all public officials allegedly involved in the corruption on leave until the completion of the probe.