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>Korinna Horta, Environmental Defense Fund (Korinna_Horta@edf.org)
>Tel. 202-387-3500
>Cell phone 917-560-6450
>
>Patrick McCully, International Rivers Network (patrick@irn.org)
>Tel. 510-848-1155 (wk)
>       510-528-2930 (hm)
>
>GROUPS CALL ON WORLD BANK TO BAN COMPANIES IN AFRICAN BRIBERY SCANDAL
>
>Environmental groups are calling on the World Bank to debar companies
>accused of bribing the former head of a Bank-funded dam project in Southern
>Africa. A dozen major international dam-building companies involved in the
>Lesotho Highlands Water Project (LHWP) have lavishly bribed the official,
>allegedly depositing over $2 million in bribes into his Swiss bank accounts.
>The bribes were revealed in July in a court case brought by the Lesotho
>government against the official.
>
>"We call on the World Bank to debar these companies until this case is
>resolved," said Patrick McCully, International River Network's Campaigns
>Director. "If its proven that bribes were paid the World Bank must
>permanently blacklist these companies from any further contracts. Letting
>these companies off the hook would violate World Bank guidelines and
>contradict its stated policy of fighting corruption," said McCully.
>
>Correspondence between the World Bank and the Lesotho government from 1994
>reveals that not only was the Bank aware of corruption allegations, it
>actively tried to prevent the official's suspension. Yet now Bank officials
>claim they only discovered the allegations in July 1999. "The World Bank
>must conduct a full investigation of its role in this scandal," said Korinna
>Horta, Senior Environmental Economist with the Environmental Defense Fund.
>
>Scandal Background
>
>"The list of corrupt companies reads like a who's who of the international
>dam-building industry," said McCully, and includes such industry giants as
>Italy's Impregilo and the Swiss/Swedish concern ABB. The bribe amounts
>ranged from a low of $2,456 to a high of $733,404 according to the charge
>sheet filed against the official, Masupha Sole.
>
>The LHWP is Africa's largest infrastructure project, involving five dams,
>miles of tunnels through the Lesotho mountains and a small hydropower
>component. "Controversial from the start, the project was initiated without
>critical environmental studies on erosion and downstream impacts, despite
>the potentially huge impacts of diverting such a large amount of water,"
>said Horta. "The project has had an extremely negative impact on the
>vulnerable rural Highlands communities who have lost fields, grazing lands
>and access to fresh water sources due to construction of the project," she
>added.
>
>The World Bank has lent more than $150m for the project, and played a
>critical role in getting it off the ground. When the Bank found out in 1994
>that the government of Lesotho was attempting to remove Sole, it sent a
>strongly worded letter insisting that the government take no action against
>him because it would "seriously jeopardize the progress of the project." A
>copy of the letter is available to reporters (see contact info. below).
>
>--30--
>
>For a 4-page backgrounder on the bribery scandal (including a full list of
>the companies involved and the bribe amounts), 1994 letter from the World
>Bank to the Lesotho government and other background materials, please
>contact Elizabeth Buchanan at Fenton Communications: tel. 202-822-5200;
>202-490-0528 (pager); e-mail: liz@fenton.com; or Ross Hammond, tel.
>415-695-7492, e-mail: margross@igc.org
>
>Date: Fri, 24 Sep 1999 13:12:54 -0700
>From: "Ross Hammond" <margross@igc.org>
>MIME-Version: 1.0
>
>September 24, 1999
>For Immediate Release:
>
>Subject: Rls: Groups Call On World Bank To Ban Companies In African
>Bribery Scandal
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Date: Fri, 24 Sep 1999 14:17:23 -0800
From: Patrick McCully <patrick@irn.org>
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Subject: Groups Call On World Bank To Ban Companies In African Bribery
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