Rice price up Tk 20 while paying Padma Bridge cost: Adviser

Commerce Adviser Sheikh Bashiruddin has said that if the funds spent on the Padma Bridge had instead been used for irrigation, the price of rice would have been Tk five lower. “Today, the price of rice has increased by Tk 20 while repaying the cost of the Padma Bridge,” he added.

He made the remarks on Monday evening (19 January) at a discussion meeting on the referendum held at the conference hall of the Netrokona Deputy Commissioner’s office. The meeting was chaired by Deputy Commissioner and Returning Officer Md Saifur Rahman.

Sheikh Bashiruddin said, “If we fail to generate a budget surplus, you will not be able to cope with the ‘tumour’ it creates. Whoever comes to power, you must remember that without a budget surplus, citizens will suffer.”

He criticised Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s large-scale development projects, saying, “She undertook unnecessarily large projects. Most of the land ports were not needed and have no functional utility. Thousands of crores of taka have been spent, and 90 percent of the money has already been used. Sheikh Hasina was involved in extreme mismanagement. Her main objective was to increase expenditure rather than focus on income growth. That is why these large projects were implemented. The responsibility of the interim government will be to maintain income growth.”

Regarding the upcoming referendum, he said, “If you vote ‘Yes’ in the referendum, the caretaker system will return. The caretaker government will ensure a neutral election, and the party with the most public support will be elected.”

Earlier in the afternoon, Sheikh Bashiruddin attended a courtyard meeting in Hironpur village of Sadar Upazila. The district administration organised these meetings to encourage voter participation and raise public awareness ahead of the 13th National Parliament elections and the referendum.