Archive for October 2008

In June 2006 Ethical Edinburgh published the results from an online survey of attitudes toward corruption in international construction projects. Future online surveys are planned, in order to continue drawing directly on the views of those most likely to understand both the true nature of, and the best ways of curbing, corruption on construction projects. Meanwhile, here are details of similar surveys carried out by the CIOB into corruption in the UK construction sector.

The Construction Sector Transparency Initiative (CoST) is intended to reduce corruption on construction projects by making more information available for public scrutiny. Supported by DFID and the World Bank, it brings together the essential players in publicly funded construction projects, including government ministries and agencies, construction companies, and civil society. Working on the principle of “Get What You Pay For” it centres on making information readily available to, and accessible by, the public. Such information will include:

• the purpose and location of a project;
• its projected cost, and specification; and
• the quality and cost of the final outcome.

Following a successful conference hosted by DFID in June 2007, several countries, including Tanzania, Zambia, Vietnam and the Philippines have agreed to implement this initiative on a 2 year pilot basis. The pilot phase was officially launched in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania in May 2008. At this event it was stated that the UK was looking at how best to participate in the initiative.

Launched in 2008, nomorecorruption is an ambitious new initiative designed to improve anti-corruption communication between corporations and the communities they serve. This is achieved mainly through information and education, enabled by web-based technology. See www.nomorecorruption.net for full details.