Articles

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.

Transparency International has developed a Project Anti-Corruption System (PACS) specifically for construction projects. PACS is a modular system which applies a variety of anti-corruption measures to all major project participants throughout their involvement in the project. These measures include independent monitoring, due diligence, contractual commitments, procurement requirements, government commitments, a corporate programme, rules for individuals, training, transparency, reporting and enforcement. PACS targets both bribery and fraud. Click here for details.

Individuals can now report demands for bribes by government officials worldwide through the BRIBEline, the Business Registry for International Bribery and Extortion. Those exposed to bribe demands can report these incidents through a secure, anonymous, multi-lingual, web-based mechanism. By giving individuals and companies a viable place to report bribe solicitation, BRIBEline will help to reinforce the idea that this is an illegitimate activity. Visit www.bribeline.org for full details.

Fighting Corruption through Collective Action – A Guide for Business and its companion web portal were launched in June 2008. This new guide outlines multiple options for combating market corruption based on proven “how-to” examples from many regions and sectors. Cases from a diverse group of countries, including Mexico, Germany and Pakistan, are detailed in the guide, as well as a range of tools, such as decision trees and process steps, that help users to tailor collective action frameworks to their specific circumstances and needs. See http://www.fightingcorruption.org for full details.

Launched in 2008, The Global Infrastructure Anti-Corruption Centre (GIACC) is an independent not-for-profit organisation providing resources and services for the purpose of preventing corruption in the infrastructure, construction and engineering sectors. These resources and services are provided for the assistance of all stakeholders, including governments, project owners, funders, contractors, consulting engineering firms and suppliers of equipment, materials and services. This is achieved mainly through information and education, enabled by web-based technology. See giaccentre.org for full details.

The Global Infrastructure Anti-Corruption Centre is now providing some of the services identified as being provided by the proposed International Centre for Transparency in Construction.   This is a welcome development, which may in time obviate the need for the Ethical Edinburgh initiative.   In the meantime close communication and collaboration will be maintained.

There was good attendance at this October 2007 conference, organised by British Expertise and the Association for Consultancy and Engineering. Speakers included senior representatives of UK companies, Transparency International, the Government of Tanzania, and Donor Agencies. Topics addressed included:

• How UK business is responding to the challenge (seen from the perspectives of contractor, consultant and professional engineer).
• How corruption is being prevented in the construction of the Beijing and London Olympic facilities.
• The actions being taken by the UK and Tanzanian governments.
• The anti-corruption actions and punitive measures adopted by the World Bank and EU Commission
• An anti-corruption action plan for the sector.
• Anti-corruption law and enforcement.

“The Many Faces of Corruption”, published in May 2007 by the World Bank, breaks new ground in providing compelling insights into the nature and scale of corruption in various sectors including construction, while offering practical proposals for remedial measures. A chapter on “Making inroads in the transport sector through control and prevention” refers to typical levels of corruption on road projects being between 5% and 20%, and even higher in some countries. When broader governance issues are included, the potential for savings in transport sector expenditure in develping countries is estimated as typically being between 10% and 40%. This is for a sector that normally accounts for between 10% and 20% of national expenditure. The economic consequences are assessed as being higher still, as corruption causes limited resources to be diverted to projects with lower rates of return. In response, the authors propose the use of prototype “road maps” to identify corruption vulnerabilities, suggesting corresponding “orange” and “red” warning signals. Specific proposed remedial measures are then set out, both at the sectoral level and for some critical cross-cutting public sector functions. Click here for details of this publication.

Launched in August 2006, this bold initiative is intended to encourage companies and individuals to come clean about past involvement in corrupt activities involving World Bank projects. In exchange for revealing all (in confidence) and implementing robust new internal procedures, they will be able to manage the risk associated with skeletons in the cupboard. Click here for details of the VDP.