Asia

World Bank cancels $1.2 billion Bangladesh loan

Topics: 
Corruption, Asia, Construction industry, Developing countries
Rating: 
3

Julhas Alam – June 30, 2012

The World Bank has canceled a $1.2 billion loan for construction of a bridge in Bangladesh, saying it has credible evidence of corruption involving a Canadian engineering company.

The global lending agency said it did not receive a satisfactory response from the Bangladesh government after it raised the issue of corruption last year.

Pakistan PM to be charged over corruption case

Topics: 
Corruption, Asia, Judiciary, Political misconduct, Anti-corruption efforts
Rating: 
2

Andrew Buncombe – February 3, 2012

Pakistan's constitutional crisis deepened yesterday when the country's Supreme Court announced that it planned to charge the Prime Minister, Yousuf Raza Gilani, with contempt for failing to re-open a corruption case against the President.

After many hours of debate and exchanges with the Prime Minister's legal team, the court ordered Mr Gilani to appear on 13 February, when the charges will be formally presented. If convicted, he faces up to six months in prison and could be forced from his position.

Korea passes whistleblower protection law

Topics: 
Legislation, Asia, Anti-corruption efforts
Rating: 
2

Kim Dok-man – December 2, 2011

Let's assume that we find out about acts infringing on public interest such as the discharging of wastewater destroying the environment, the distribution of bad refrigerant gas risking an explosion, or unfair trade through oil price-fixing. Is there any safe way for us to report such acts?

If any employees see their executives illegally distributing fake sesame oil containing lubricant for industrial use or blood contaminated with AIDS and reveals it to the public, can they continue working for the company?

Niko Resources: Ottawa’s corruption test case

Topics: 
RCMP, Corruption, White-collar crime, Oil & gas industry, Asia, Foreign corrupt practices legislation
Rating: 
4

Greg McArthur – August 25, 2011

By Bangladeshi standards, the red-brick compound of A.K.M. Mosharraf Hossain is a country estate. A four-foot wall encircles the property in the capital city of Dhaka. The only way inside is past a guard booth and a metal gate that leads to the politician’s roundabout driveway.

But there was no problem gaining admission on May 23, 2005, when two representatives from Niko Resources, a Canadian natural gas company, arrived at the gate. They were waved through with a brand-new, shiny gift—a black Toyota Land Cruiser. The two Niko officials, both Bangladeshi, stood by while the car keys were handed over to Hossain’s driver.

Large Zone Near Japanese Reactors Uninhabitable

Topics: 
Nuclear industry, Environment, Asia
Rating: 
2

Martin Fackler – August 21, 2011

Broad areas around the stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant could soon be declared uninhabitable, perhaps for decades, after a government survey found radioactive contamination that far exceeded safe levels, several major media outlets said Monday.

The formal announcement, expected from the government in coming days, would be the first official recognition that the March accident could force the long-term depopulation of communities near the plant, an eventuality that scientists and some officials have been warning about for months.

Canada a refuge for fleeing Indonesian corruption suspects

Topics: 
Corruption, Asia, Indonesia
Rating: 
2

Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW) has records that 45 people linked to cases of corruption fled overseas in the past 10 years, with 20 going to neighboring Singapore.

ICW's Emerson Yuntho said that being in Singapore makes it easy to monitor and make arrangements regarding legal processes and Singapore-based businesses.

"This is interesting, Singapore being the country of choice, and also Australia, Canada and Hong Kong," he said Saturday as quoted by tribunnews.com.

Canadian 'drug mafia don' flees Indian prison

Topics: 
Organized crime, Drug trafficking, Asia
Rating: 
3

Adrian Humphreys – May 6, 2011

Embarrassed officials in India are searching for a Canadian dubbed the "drug mafia don from Canada" who escaped from prison on a motorcycle in the midst of his trial, where he stands accused of running that country's largest methamphetamine factory.

Xie Jing Feng, 52, a Canadian citizen also known as Richard, was at a food stall across from the prison in Vadodara, where he was in custody pending his high-profile drug case, when he asked one of his three guards to undo his handcuffs so he could wash his face.

In Corrupt Global Food System, Farmland Is the New Gold

Topics: 
Corruption, Financial industry, Asia, Africa, Food industry
Rating: 
3

Stephen Leahy – January 13, 2011

UXBRIDGE, Canada — Famine-hollowed farmers watch trucks loaded with grain grown on their ancestral lands heading for the nearest port, destined to fill richer bellies in foreign lands. This scene has become all too common since the 2008 food crisis.

Food prices are even higher now in many countries, sparking another cycle of hunger riots in the Middle East and South Asia last weekend. While bad weather gets the blame for rising prices, the instant price hikes of recent times are largely due to market speculation in a corrupt global food system.

Corruption to blame for flooding disaster: experts

Topics: 
International, Corruption, Asia
Rating: 
0

Jeremy Page – August 9, 2010

ISLAMABAD — Pakistan’s devastating floods could have been contained if tens of millions of dollars for flood prevention projects had not been embezzled or misspent over the past three decades, water experts and activists have told The Times.

Many Pakistanis have blamed the disaster on the current civilian government, in particular President Asif Ali Zardari, who returned to an angry nation Sunday after refusing to cancel a six-day visit to France and Britain.

Drowning in a sea of incompetence

Topics: 
International, Corruption, Asia
Rating: 
0

Over the years, more and more people in positions of relative power and authority assume those positions because of connections or outright bribes and once employed, hone their skills of sycophancy and develop connections to assure promotions or lucrative appointments.

Dr Syed Mansoor Hussain – August 9, 2010

Sometimes things look so bad that even an optimist like me has a hard time finding some silver lining to the ‘dark clouds’ hanging over Pakistan. Man-made disasters, natural disasters, terrorism, target killings and now the complete collapse of the Pakistani cricket team.

What has emerged most forcefully out of the confluence of all these ‘problems’ is that those who run this country at almost all levels are totally incapable of doing what is expected of them. Corruption is often labelled as the root cause of all evils in Pakistan. What has become obvious is that the basic problem we face as a country is not just corruption but rather rank incompetence of those who supposedly govern us.

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