Water & Corruption News

In January 2010, the president of Sedapal, the state water utility agency, Guillermo León, was accused of too easily awarding a 13 million soles (about 4.5 millions) contract to TFKC Reprex in December 2008, a company formed just one month prior to the controversial contract selection as a representative of Brazilian Puritech. The contract was [...]

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As reported by the Guardian earlier this month, Brazil will go ahead with the construction of a controversial hydroelectric dam in the Amazon forest. It has been estimated that thousands of the indigenous populations in the area would be displaced. Moreover, environmentalists highlighted the damage of the Belo Monte dam on the Amazon basin with [...]

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Mexico’s national water authority Conagua has opened a water bank in Sinaloa state, the authority said in a release.
The bank is the fourth in the country, and aims to regulate the acquisition and transfer of water rights in the state.
The bank will offer assessments in the administrative process of acquiring water rights and feasibility studies, [...]

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A recent New York Times article tells the story of how direct grants to a village council in Jurm, Badakshan province, have reduced corruption and helped the community set up and manage their own water system and to introduce education for girls.

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The Tanzanian water and sewerage authority ranks fifth in the corruption ‘List of Shame” published by the regional NGO Concern for Development Initiatives in Africa (ForDIA).

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The Tanzanian water and sewerage authority ranks fifth in the corruption ‘List of Shame” published by the regional NGO Concern for Development Initiatives in Africa (ForDIA).
The report is the second comprehensive local study on corruption perception compiled by ForDIA.
The Tanzania Electric Supply Company (Tanesco) is the most corrupt public institution according to the [...]

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A New York Times report published in December 2009 suggests that at least 49 million people in the United States are exposed to drinking water which contains unacceptable concentrations of arsenic and other contaminants. The same report finds that only 6% of drinking water standards violations have been enforced since 2004. The main problem lies with the 35-year old federal Safe Drinking Water Act of 1974 which has not been updated to sufficiently reflect acceptable modern standards and guidelines for water quality and suffers from poor monitoring and enforcement.

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A new initiative was launched on 16 December by the Indian Ministry of Urban Development, aimed at rating approximately 400 Indian cities with over a population of 1 lakh, according to their sanitation standards. This initiative is focused on championing the safe sanitation initiative as part of the new National Urban Sanitation Policy, launched during 2008.

Implementation of the National Urban Sanitation Policy has so far been responsible for significant investments in infrastructure upgrades, but with little focus on improving living conditions. This intiative therefore marks the start of a new campaign for better and sustainable sanitation solutions, particularly for the urban poor. A complimentary initiative to win a new National Award for cities with the best sanitation, aims to stimulate municipal competition towards improved sanitation and increase the drive towards better accountability and governance of sanitation services.

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Bribery Issues in Dam Construction in Pakistan as highlighted by Peter Boshard in The Huffington Post.

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The UK Anti-Corruption Forum regurarly publishes newsletters in which relevant news about corruption issues from around the world are gathered and briefly presented. Here you can download their latest edition from November 2009. For more information, we also invite you to visit their website, linked here.

Read more or download UK_Anti-corruption_Forum_Newsletter16.pdf  (129 kB)