Ladies and Gentlemen, invited guests, corruption in the water sector is an overlooked threat for development and sustainability. This year’s Report attests to the fact that Corruption in the water sector is a root cause and catalyst for the global water crisis threatening billions of lives and exacerbating environmental degradation. Water is a resource without substitute. It is paramount to our health, our food security, our energy future and our ecosystem. But corruption plagues water management and use in all these areas.
Ladies and gentlemen, the Report, the first of its kind to explore the impact and scope of corruption in different segments of the water sector, identifies a range of problems, from petty bribery in water delivery to procurement-related looting of irrigation and hydropower funds; from covering up industrial pollution to manipulation of water management and allocation policies.
The impact of corruption on water is a fundamental governance problem, yet it is not sufficiently addressed in the many global policy initiatives for environmental sustainability, development, and food and energy security. The water crisis is undeniable and the corruption challenge it faces is urgent. More than 1 billion people worldwide have no guaranteed access to water and more than 2 billion are without adequate sanitation, which has devastating consequences for development and poverty reduction. Corruption thwarts global response to climate change and global food shortage
Ladies and gentlemen, climate change requires the world to come up with what is likely to be the most far-reaching and complex global governance framework ever devised. Without addressing the corruption risks, especially as they relate to water, such plans stand on shaky ground. The report demonstrates corruption’s potential to obstruct effective enforcement of water-sharing pacts and resettlement arrangements, both key to confronting the fallout from climate change. Irrigated land helps produce 40 per cent of the world’s food, but corruption in irrigation is rampant. Addressing this risk is fundamental to increasing food production and tackling the global food crisis. Massive new investments in irrigation have been announced worldwide to help counter the food crisis, yet water shortage means food shortage and if corruption in irrigation is not also addressed, these efforts will fall short.
For the Philippines, which has allocated close to US$1 billion for irrigation and related agricultural improvements, the report presents case evidence of how corruption has hindered the building and performance of irrigation dams. In India, a country at the centre of the crisis, corruption is estimated to add at least 25 per cent to irrigation contracts and the proceeds help maintain a corrupt system of political handouts and compromised oversight. In the end, investment costs rise, systems are rendered inefficient and small farmers are left especially vulnerable to water shortage.
Ladies and gentlemen, when corruption occurs, the cost of connecting a household to a water network increases by up to 30 per cent, raising the price tag for achieving the Millennium Development Goals for water and sanitation by a staggering US$48 billion, according to expert estimates in the report.
Corruption in drinking water and sanitation emerges at every point along the water delivery chain; from policy design and budgeting to building, maintaining and operating water networks. It drains investment from the sector, increases prices and decreases water supplies. One result is that poor households in Jakarta, Lima, Nairobi or Manila spend more on water than residents of New York City, London or Rome. Corruption has plagued the tendering of water contracts in cities like Grenoble, Milan, New Orleans and Atlanta. Likewise, cases of bid-rigging and price-fixing in water infrastructure provision have surfaced in Sweden, while in Chicago water budgets fell victim to misuse for political campaigning.
Risks for the environment and energy security
Invited guests, corruption in water resources management undermines the sustainability of water supplies, fuels highly unequal water sharing which can incite political conflict and fosters the degradation of vital ecosystems. In China, for example, corruption has weakened the enforcement of environmental regulations, abetting the pollution of aquifers in 90 percent of cities and making over 75 per cent of urban rivers unsuitable for drinking or fishing.
Ladies and gentlemen, Corruption in hydropower inflates the cost of dams and related projects. It also makes re-settlement more challenging by preying on compensation funds and initiatives meant to aid displaced people. The stakes are high: hydropower accounts for one-sixth of the world’s electricity production and investment volumes are projected to reach US$60 billion annually over the next 20 years.
A time for action: solutions to clean up the water sector
Corrupt conditions in water persist because their greatest impact is exacted on those with the least chance of redress, disproportionately affecting women, the poor and those with no voice at all: future generations and the environment.
Transparency International’s fight against corruption is carried forward by a truly global movement of national chapters and contact groups in all regions of the world. The section of the Global Corruption Report 2008 draws on this unique breadth and diversity of in-country expertise and experience. Importantly, it includes views from both developed and developing countries.
Invited guests, the contributions offer a glimpse of major corruption related events and a review of progress in institutional anti-corruption reforms during the reporting period from July 2006 – 2007, as seen at national and local levels. In doing so the report provides a sense of the corruption issues that are most prevalent and of common concern across counties, from political corruption to corruption in the water sector.
In the case of Zambia however the report does not focus o the corruption in the water sector. This however not to say that Zambia’s water sector is immune to problems in the water sector as cited in other countries.
The country reports illustrate the pervasiveness of corruption and its ability to distort all types of political, economic and cultural context. Global efforts to draw attention to the corruption case, to create a normative framework for preventing corruption and realizing cross boarder mechanisms for combating corruption continue to be crucial.
Some of the milestones reported on Zambia for the anti-corruption reform to have taken place as reported in the Global corruption Report 2008 are as follows:
Legal and Institutional changes
To enhance transparency and accountability during elections, the Electoral Act was passed in July 2006, repealing previous legislation. In effect, corruption in the electoral process is now criminalized.
In September 2007, the Anti-Corruption Commission Bill was in its final stages, having been debated since 2004. It seeks to strengthen the existing Anti-Corruption Commission Act, proposing to offer protection for whistleblowers and criminalize further acts of corruption associated with elections.
In 2006 the Zambia Development Agency Act was passed. This act effectively merges five institutions: The Zambia Privatization Agency, the Zambia Investment Centre, the Export Board of Zambia, the Zambia Export Processing Zones Authority and the Small Enterprises Development Board. The Act will enable the government to channel resources more easily to one agency rather than five, thereby reducing bureaucracy.
In May 2006, the Judicial Code of Conduct Act made amendments to a 1999 act of the same name. These amendments strengthened and renamed the Judicial Complaints Committee as the Judicial Complaints Authority. This enhanced the notion that the public might seek remedial redress in cases of alleged misconduct by judicial officers. The judicial Code of Conduct encourages judicial officers to uphold the integrity independence and impartiality in accordance with the constitution, code of conduct or any other law.
Although the September 2006 elections were generally held to have been an improvement on 2001, they were still marred by malpractices. The new electoral (Amendment) Act was in place, outlining illegal practices relating to elections, including bribery and various forms of vote buying. The Act was intended to meet the demands of stakeholder for minimum standards of ‘free and fair’ elections.
In May 2006, the Zambian Government signed a two-year threshold programme worth US$22.7 million with the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC). The programme is intended to reduce corruption and improve government effectiveness through three components: preventing corruption in government institutions, improving effectiveness of pubic services and improving the management of trade at the boarders.
Part of this anticorruption drive, instituted by the Anti-Corruption Commission included the establishment of Integrity committees within the government ministries, department and agencies. Integrity Committees have been formed in eight government institution, i.e. Zambia Revenue Authority, Ministry of Lands, the Immigration Department, Lusaka city council, Ndola City council, Zambia Police and the Public Service Pensions Fund. The integrity Committees are premised on the belief that all organizations should be responsible for preventing corruption.
Ladies and gentlemen, the Integrity Committees if not properly implemented are likely to suffer from rigidity and possible rejection from within institutions. The Committees legitimacy will depend on a number of factors, including ensuring adequate oversight of activities by the Cabinet Office, shielding the committees from superfluous bureaucracy and potential conflicts of interest and ensuring that committee appointments are made in a transparency way.
Nonetheless, as the Global Corruption Report shows, taking action against corruption in the water sector is both timely and feasible.
The key recommendations of the report include:
Establish transparency and participation as guiding principles for all aspects of water governance: From transparent budgeting and participatory policy-making to public mapping of water pollution, public audits of projects and access to contract terms and performance reports, transparency and participation strengthen integrity in water governance, but need to be adopted globally.
Strengthen regulatory oversight: Government and the public sector continue to play the most prominent role in water governance and should establish effective regulatory oversight, whether for the environment, water and sanitation, agriculture or energy. Institutional reform and capacity-building are essential to bring oversight in water up to the standards already achieved in other sectors
Ensure fair competition and accountable implementation of water projects: All stakeholders have a role to play. Contracts should incorporate anti-corruption measures. Governments and contractors can enter into agreements for fair public procurement. Lenders and donors must strengthen anti-bribery provisions in their due diligence requirements.
Ladies and gentlemen, water is vital and has no substitutes. Yet a water crisis that involves corruption engulfs many regions of the world. The human consequences of the water crisis, exacerbated by corruption, are devastating and affect the poor and women most of all. In developing countries, about 80 per cent of health problems can be linked back to inadequate water and sanitation, claiming the lives of nearly 1.8 million children every year and leading to the loss of an estimated 443 million school days for children who suffer from water related ailments.
Finally, it is therefore our hope that the water sector in Zambia will take a leaf on this report and learn ways in which some of the problems identified in this report can be overcome. Our organization stands ready to partner with all water sector institutions to champion the anti-corruption crusade in the water sector in Zambia.
I thank you.
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