Lyna Mohamad
The entire nation of Bangladesh celebrated the inauguration of the Padma Multipurpose Bridge by Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday, marking a new era of connectivity, development, and growth.
In celebration of the inauguration, the Bangladesh High Commission in Brunei Darussalam hosted a televised broadcast of the main event at the high commission premise yesterday.
Participated mainly by the Bangladesh community members in Brunei, the programme began with the recitation of verses from Al-Quran, followed by the reading of the messages from the President and Prime Minister of Bangladesh.
The broadcast featured a Padma Bridge theme song performance by leading artists in Bangladesh.
The ceremony continued with the unveiling of the plaque to mark the launch by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina who announced that the bridge will be operational for vehicular movements the following day.
The Bangladesh community thanked the prime minister for demonstrating unmatched political mettle and patriotism in constructing the bridge with domestic funds.
The prime minister noted that the country’s southern and southwestern parts comprising 21 districts, are home to about 80 million population who mostly live on agriculture and fishing and have never received adequate spotlight.
She believes that the Padma Bridge will change their fate for the better.
Economic activities in that zone will assuredly be expanded to a great extent with all their worries and woes, put to rest through the inauguration of the bridge. From now, the smooth supply of agricultural products from the country’s 21 districts will help develop the economy.
The prime minister said around 2.3 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) in the area will be increased, and about 1.23 per cent GDP would be added to the country’s existing GDP.
A cake cutting ceremony marked the end of the programme.
