Norconsult International, a major player in the Norwegian aid market, has come under corruption scrutiny by the World Bank and now risks blacklisting and debarment from Bank projects. In April 2007 Norconsult applied to become part of the World Bank’s Voluntary Disclosure Programme (VDP), which would have given the firm amnesty in the Bank. However, a firm already under investigation has no chance of being accepted under the VDP. The company came under investigation by the World Bank in connection with the Dar es Salaam Water Supply and Sanitation Project in Tanzania last fall. The project is being carried out as a joint venture with a local and a Dutch firm and has been run by a local joint venture office in Dar es Salaam.

In April 2007, Norconsult decided to apply for the disclosure programme, hoping to avoid blacklisting in the Bank. The VDP gives firms an amnesty in the Bank if they reveal all information about former involvement in corruption and bribes paid, for which Notconsult sacked two of ist emplyees. Only after the Norwegian financial daily Dagens Næringsliv broke the story in mid-May did Norconsult report the matter to the Norwegian police. The firm then withdrew its application to join the Bank’s disclosure programme. Norconsult’s Board states that the reason it did not report the matter to the police earlier was because it had applied to join the VDP, but since the matter now was publicly know the situation had changed. Bart Stevens, Senior Communications Officer at the Institutional Integrity Department at the World Bank, refuses to comment on concrete investigations. However, he says to Development Today that in general an application from a firm already under investigation by the Bank would automatically be rejected.

Web sites: World Bank - Voluntary Disclosure Programme ; Water Integrity Network

Source: Development Today [subscription site], 30 May 2007

Tags: policies & legislation