Engineering: issues, challenges and opportunities for development ...

AN OVERVIEW OF ENGINEERINGReducing corruption in infrastructure projects at the government levelEngineers can call for action by governments in the followingareas:■■Integrity in government: Effective national andinternational action must be taken to preventcorruption by government officials, to investigateand prosecute corrupt officials, and to recover theircorruptly acquired assets.Government approvals: The need for governmentapprovals, for example in the application for permitsor payments, provides opportunities for corruption.Governments therefore should take the followingactions:– The number of government approvals required, and thenumber of people required to issue these approvals,should be reduced to the minimum necessary to ensurefair and effective government.– Government departments should take steps to minimizeextortion by their officers, to appoint a senior managerto whom complaints of extortion can be made, andto publicize a list of fees and time-scales which shouldproperly apply to government procedures. This commitment,list of fees and time-scales should be published ona publicly acessible website.■Public sector projects: In the case of public sectorinfrastructure projects, the government should ensurethat the public sector project owner implements aneffective anti-corruption system (following boxes).■ Reporting: Reporting systems should be maintainedwhere details of organizations or individuals whoare suspected of being involved in corruption canbe reported. These reporting systems should bewidely publicized. People should be able to report bytelephone, letter or email. Reports should be capableof being given anonymously, and the confidentiality ofsources should be protected.■ Investigation and prosecution: Adequate resourcesneed to be allocated to investigation and prosecutionagencies to allow them to carry out their functionseffectively.■ Asset recovery: Greater international effort needs tobe put into recovering and repatriating assets stolenthrough corrupt activities.Reducing corruption in infrastructure projects at the organization levelNumerous different organizations participate in the constructionof infrastructure projects: public or private sectorproject owners, funders, consulting engineering firms,contractors, sub-contractors and suppliers. These organizationswill normally be run by engineers, or have engineersin senior management or advisory roles. Engineerscan therefore either implement or recommend the implementationof a corporate anti-corruption programme bythese organizations. This programme should:■■prohibit the organization’s staff from engaging in anyform of corrupt conduct;specify the organization’s policy on political andcharitable contributions, facilitation payments, gifts,hospitality and expenses;■commit the organization to take all reasonable stepsto prevent corruption by the organization’s parent,subsidiary and associated companies, agents, jointventure and consortium partners, sub-contractors andsuppliers and■ provide for effective anti-corruption managementcontrols, audit, staff training and whistle-blowingprocedures.Several organizations have developed model codes of conduct,systems and guidance to assist companies in improvingtheir corporate governance:■■■The International Federation of Consulting Engineers( FIDIC) has developed Guidelines for Business IntegrityManagement in the Consulting Industry.Transparency International (TI) has developedthe Business Principles for Countering Bribery andaccompanying guidelines, implementation plan andverification module.The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) hasdeveloped Combating Extortion and Bribery: ICC Rulesof Conduct and Recommendations.Corruption Initiative brings together over 100 major internationalcompanies from the construction and engineering, oiland gas, and mining and mineral sectors of more than thirtyfivecountries, with a combined turnover in excess of US$500billion, committed not to tolerate bribery and to implementeffective anti-corruption procedures. At a national level, forexample, the UK Anti-Corruption Forum is an alliance of UKbusiness associations, professional institutions and organizationswith interests in the domestic and international infrastructure,construction and engineering sectors. The purposeof the UK Forum is to promote industry-led actions, which canhelp eliminate corruption. Numerous other initiatives worldwideare led by or involve engineers.Engineers do not make up the complete solution to corruptionprevention. Major reasons for corruption are the corrupt politiciansor government officials who use infrastructure projectsor military procurement contracts as their personal source ofwealth creation, and also because of the inadequate level ofprevention, investigation and prosecution of corruption. However,engineers are critical to the reduction of corruption inthe infrastructure sector in particular, as they are representedat every stage of the process. Engineers work for or advise governments,project owners, funders, contractors and consultingengineers. They are involved in the planning, design, tenderingand execution of the project. Corruption can be materiallyreduced if engineers work together to bring about change.193