Staff Correspondent:

Awami League (AL) General Secretary Obaidul Quader said, Padma Bridge is the “golden crop” of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s commitment to the country’s people.

“Her courage and foresight are our greatest assets. Even in crisis, she goes ahead without fear,” he told a citizens’ rally organized at Mawa end of the Padma Bridge in Munshiganj on Friday (July 5) afternoon.

Obaidul Quader, also the Road Transport and Bridges Minister, said Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina declared in the national parliament that Bangladesh would build the Padma Bridge with its own finance if the World Bank does not finance the Padma Bridge project.

When the first span of the Padma Bridge was installed on September 29 in 2017, Sheikh Hasina was in New York, USA, he said.

When asked to wait for her to install the first span, Obaidul Quader said, she told that the work of the Padma Bridge would not stop for a single minute for her.

He said Sheikh Hasina, daughter of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, took visionary steps to prevent riverbank erosion of the Padma amid strong currents.

The Road Transport and Bridges Minister said they wanted to name the Padma Bridge after Sheikh Hasina, while the demand was raised in parliament too.

“Many people from all over Bangladesh also raised such demand but Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said that she would not use her name in any way. The bridge will be named after the river Padma,” Quader said.

“Your name (Sheikh Hasina) has been mixed with the Padma Bridge. As long as the Padma Bridge remains, Sheikh Hasina’s name will be uttered with pride,” he said.

The minister said Sheikh Hasina moves forward fearlessly even in a crisis and she never bows down to anyone.

“She (Sheikh Hasina) made us more proud, brought the nation out of poverty, and removed darkness,” he added.