Corruption

Another gap - such is life!

I see that Transparency International (TI) has published its CPI for 2009 and Bangladesh has risen in the ranks (or is it declined) from the tenth most corrupt nation in the world to 13th! A cause for celebration one thinks!

There is no doubt that TI does good and necessary work but one wonders whether its indices whereby corruption is measured have any real meaning for the garment workers and rickshaw wallahs in Dhaka, Comilla, Chittagong and so on. Do they take into account the impact the 'landgrabbers' have on everyday life, where canals and rivers are seized, land filled, developed and sold at a profit. The environmental degradation, not to mention health consequences and impact of social living, is significant. The Daily Star has been leading a campaign to reclaim the canals and restore Dhaka to something like its previous state. A nice idea but ultimately futile I suspect. Despite the 'naming and shaming' nobody seems to be punished and the developments remain. I sometime think the most serious problem confronting Bangladesh is bureaucratic apathy, which, when you think about it, is at the heart of corruption.