CORRUPTION WIDESPREADBy ALEXANDER BRUZUAL Saturday, March 20 2010
Days after a battle of words between Prime Minister Patrick Manning and heavy rollers in the construction sector over the operations of private and foreign contractors, comes a report which declares corruption is perceived to be “widespread and pervasive” in the industry.
The findings of the 2009 report released yesterday by the Trinidad and Tobago Transparency Institute (TTTI) reveal (many believe) corrupt practices are commonplace on Government projects as much as on private ones and raises the question of if corruption is now merely a “fact of life” or a problem which can be reduced if stake-holders “are open to taking necessary action”.
The report, titled “Corruption in the Trinidad and Tobago Construction Industry: Survey 2009”, was released by the TTTI at the Hyatt Regency, Port-of-Spain at a breakfast meeting to discuss corruption and the private sector. TTTI is the local chapter of corruption watchdog Transparency International.
The report highlighted the results of an online survey of 64 construction industry participants conducted in a three-week period between March and April, 2009.
The survey, which looked at the participants’ perceptions of and personal experiences with corruption, found that more than 90 percent were of the view that corruption was common, with 44 percent believing it was “extremely common”. No one said that it was not common at all.
It was found that several of these persons had direct experiences with corruption, and almost all were of the view that not enough was being done to combat the scourge by any parties in the private or public sectors.
The survey also revealed the participants tended to view corrupt practices during pre-qualification and tendering as less prevalent when compared to project execution.
It was also stated that participants regarded corruption in the selection of consultants to be considerably more frequent when the consultants were foreigners.
More than half of the participants, 52 percent, identified that corruption was likely to occur at the Central Government level, while 28 percent identified it occurred at the senior management level. More than 53 percent of the participants also reported being offered a bribe on at least one occasion.
A whopping 97 percent believed the Government was not doing enough to tackle corruption in the industry.
However, in analysing the results of the survey, the TTTI was clear to point out that although there was a view that corruption in the selection of consultants is considerably more frequent for foreign personnel, this should not discourage local stakeholders from making sure that “their own house” was in order.
In fact, the TTTI said the results should encourage advocacy of a public procurement regime that was comprehensive and “even-handed” in its regulation of all selection processes and created a level playing field.
The report concluded that from the information procured from the survey, a movement was necessary and deeply desired among stakeholders to fight corruption in the construction industry.
“The results of the survey would seem to indicate that the time is ripe for the formation of an anti-corruption alliance of stakeholders in the TT construction industry as a first step towards marshalling their resources to tackle corruption.
“The TTTI will continue its exploration with private sector stakeholders for the possibility of their establishing an alliance that would take co-ordinated action to reduce corruption and promote greater integrity in the TT construction industry,” the report revealed.
The report’s release comes after a face-off this week between the Government and the Joint Consultative Council for the Construction Industry (JCC) over the practices of the special purpose company Udecott, which manages billion-dollar mega construction projects, the use of Chinese contracting firms and criticisms of the quality of work done by local contractors.
During a public meeting in San Juan on Monday, Manning inflamed passions when he declared a war on local contractors who he accused of shoddy work, praising the efficient outfits from the Far East such as Shanghai Construction Group of China which built the Prime Minister’s Residence and Diplomatic Centre and the National Academy of the Performing Arts (NAPA).
The JCC shot back the next day, defending its history as the builders of the country, questioning the Government’s defence of Udecott amid corruption allegations and, as the TTTI report recommends, called for consultation on a new public procurement regime. The day after, Manning retreated saying he did not want to be at war with the local sector.
JCC president Winston Riley yesterday admitted that corruption was indeed prevalent in the construction industry, and said he would welcome the need for a proper framework.
However, he stressed that corruption in the industry is mostly enacted by the “higher up” members of society and the foreign consultants brought in to assist them.
“All you have to do is look at the people who have been arrested, went to jail and are currently before the courts for the Piarco Airport issue. You only have to look at the person who is being questioned with respect to the Udecott issue.
“What you are seeing, are a lot of foreign engineers, architects and and former board members. The local people only number one or two persons. If you want to look at corruption, yes there is corruption, but all this is happening because there is not a proper industrial framework, and I welcome any talks to get any such framework in place,” Riley said.
In its introduction, TTTI said the report was done in light of the Uff Commission of Inquiry into Udecott and the construction industry which is due for submission to President George Maxwell Richards in the next two weeks. (See page 7)
