1 July 2006
On June 22, the World Bank suspended 13 contracts related to four Cambodian projects, bringing the total number of World Bank contracts suspended in the country to 43. The 43 contracts are associated with a total of seven projects, and are worth $11.9 million.
On June 22, the World Bank suspended 13 contracts related to four Cambodian projects, bringing the total number of World Bank contracts suspended in the country to 43. The 43 contracts are associated with a total of seven projects, and are worth $11.9 million. The Bank is also seeking repayment of money disbursed against these contracts.
The projects examined are: Agricultural Productivity Improvement - APIP, Flood Emergency Rehabilitation - FERP, Forestry Concession Management and Pilot – FCMCPP, and Biodiversity and Protected Areas and Management - BPAMP.
The move follows the June 6 suspension of funding to the Land Management and Administration Project (LMAP), Provincial and Peri-Urban Water Supply and Sanitation Project (PPWSP) and Provincial and Rural Infrastructure Project (PRIP).
The suspension of funds may be lifted "after the government has implemented an action plan, agreed with the World Bank, to introduce new [anti-corruption] measures for each of the three projects," a Bank spokesperson told the InterPress Service News Agency.
World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz denounced corruption as "one of the biggest threats to development in many countries," claiming that it "weakens fundamental systems, it distorts markets, and it encourages people to apply their skills and energies in nonproductive ways." While many would agree on the negative impacts of corruption, opinions diverge on how the Bank should address this broadly recognized "development cancer".
The institution is developing an anti-corruption framework for presentation to the Development Committee at the September 2006 Annual Meetings. Civil society groups have called for the active inclusion of external stakeholders in this process. A framework developed behind closed doors by a select group of Wolfowitz's advisors is unlikely to generate the broad ownership that is necessary for it to succeed.
Civil society groups are also calling for the institution to address odious and illegitimate debts due to past corruption, and take all appropriate steps to stamp out corruption internally.
Since taking office Wolfowitz has suspended various project loans, and in a few cases overall lending, to Chad, Kenya, Congo Braazaville, India, Bangladesh, Uzbekistan and Cambodia due to allegations of corruption.
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