Yunus should explain his role: planning minister.

The planning minister, AHM Mustafa Kamal, on Wednesday said that Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus should clarify his position on his alleged involvement in withdrawal of World Bank funding in the Padma Multipurpose Bridge Project.‘He should explain his point on allegation of provoking World Bank for pulling out its promised fund for the project,’ he said at a briefing at the ministry.Any clarification from Yunus on the issue would be good for the country, he said.Earlier on Tuesday, at the meeting of the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council, the prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, also criticised Yunus and blamed that he had convinced former US foreign secretary Hillary Clinton to influence WB not to fund the project.Hasina claimed that Influenced by Yunus, Hillary made phone call to WB authorities to pull out its fund from the project, officials present at the meeting told reporters.
Quoting the prime minister, the officials said that the WB always wanted to fund the project but finally did not just because of Yunus.

Hasina also criticised Yunus on Grameen Bank’s microcredit model and for selling the share of Grameen Bank’s to Grameenphone.Replying to a question, Kamal said that the prime minister specifically did not say it. But the fact is that someone played role so that the WB did not fund the project.‘What loss would befall on Yunus if the Padma bridge was be constructed by the WB fund,’ he asked.The WB continues to fund other projects in Bangladesh but it has only withdrawn its fund from the Padma bridge project, he said.
People will judge Yunus, but he should come forward with clarification on the controversy involving him, he said.He, however, said that Yunus was an honourable citizen of the country and Bangladesh felt proud of him as he was the only Bangladeshi to achieve Nobel Prize.At the meeting, the Implementation Monitoring and Evaluation Division placed a report on a project run by Grameen Fisheries and Livestock Foundation under which the government leased 783 ponds located in Sirajgonj and Pabna for 25 years to the foundation to enhance the livelihoods of poor in the areas.

Planning minister said a total of 5,000 bigha land was given to the foundation with Tk 100 lease money for each acre of land but people could not get benefit from the project ended in January 2011.Grameen Fisheries and Livestock Foundation managing director Absar Kamal said confusion was created among people as proper facts were not placed in the news reportedly published based on IMED report. ‘We do not subscribe the report,’ he said in a statement on Wednesday.

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