Comments on: Corruption Index slips again

By: mahmood

mahmood — Sun, 30 Sep 2007 07:26:04 +0000

Thanks Maenad, I’ve fixed it now.

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By: Maenad

Maenad — Sat, 29 Sep 2007 21:16:42 +0000

If you are creating lovely graphs to assist you in making your point, perhaps you should check them a tad more throughly before posting to avoid confusion. I’m fairly sure the third column in your table should have been labeled 2007 not 2006 again.

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By: Global Voices Online » Bahrain: Corruption Index

Global Voices Online » Bahrain: Corruption Index — Fri, 28 Sep 2007 18:06:06 +0000

[...] ranking in the Corruption Index slips again, writes blogger Mahmood Al Yousif. Countries with a significant worsening in perceived levels of corruption [...]

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By: Astro

Astro — Fri, 28 Sep 2007 16:09:39 +0000

Sara’s comment about big and small fish is interesting. Why? Because all fish rot from the head down: you don’t get low-level corruption unless those at the top of the food chain are also feasting. Need to keep the head fresh and clean….

Like I said 4 legs good, 2 legs bad: and in Animal Farm they co-opted the chickens by telling them that “wings count as legs, so don’t worry. Join the bandwagon”.

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By: Sara

Sara — Fri, 28 Sep 2007 10:12:34 +0000

The big fish all the way down to the little fish should be publicly named when corruption is uncovered. By doing so, the public will demand answers and eventually lead to fair and transparent punishment according to the crime.

I think the public humiliation would be the worse punishment of all and hopefully put some fear into others!

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By: I

Fri, 28 Sep 2007 09:43:01 +0000

With all this ‘transparency’ it would be interesting to note that some major construction contracts are going to foreign companies who have put in higher bids than national companies. This begs the question ‘why’?
In a case I recently heard of, though can not name names for safety reasons, a Chinese (or was it Korean) company with absolutely no requirements for Bahrainisation and with a bid of 2.4 million more than a Bahraini company which is totally compliant with the local rules and regulations was awarded the contract for , I believe, part of a flyover.
This reminds me of when Hyundai first came to Bahrain in the 70′s. The brought absolutely everything they needed with them and contributed nothing to the local community. From labourers to the food they ate and the equipment they used. All imported. This seems to be happening again. The Chinese/Korean contractors will import everything and not use anything locally.
How does this look for Bahraini construction companies who have toed the line consistently over the years, putting up with unfair and often unusable demands only to have the contracts awarded to outsiders.

I think we should be informed of how these contracts are awarded. . . Is it a case of ‘Bombay polio’ or backhanders :0( we should be told.

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By: mishmish

mishmish — Fri, 28 Sep 2007 09:23:57 +0000

I don’t know if in Bahrain it is only a government matter. Of course it is, but Bahrain, as most Gulf societies the whole ‘wasta’ thinking is intrinsic – and to me that is where it starts, if you can’t progress without having some sort of connection somewhere to someone, whom you then have to do some sort of favour sometime.

Well, let’s see how it goes. I think it is already very interesting to hear about GF and Alba. In the ‘olden days’, this would have never happened at these kind of companies, auditors coming in and people being pulled up.

Hopefully it is enough to make people sit up and change their ways. Often, if the system allows it, if the cookie jar is left open and everyone helps themselves by default it all goes on and on. Why not, everyone’s doing it.

But if a new course of ethics and governance is set, and enforced, hopefully a turnaround is not too utopian.

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By: Astro

Astro — Fri, 28 Sep 2007 08:38:14 +0000

Like world peace, we all wish for an end to corruption. In practice, it will always be with us – like war. In democratic societies, they call it “pork-barrel” or “entitlements” (sorry I know its Ramadan and therefore not kosher to say such things…) and organise it in a much better way: benefits are spread to a large group. In less developed countries, the benefits are restricted to a small group and hence the disgruntled majority feel let down by corruption. In any case, it’s bad for business and social order because it makes life a lot more complex and unpredictable. The root cause in Bahrain’s case – as in most countries – is not a lack of ethics or transparency but simply too much state involvement in the economy. That doesn’t hold back growth, but it does redirect the flow of resources in favour of those who control the permits, licences and vetos: what the Indians like to call the “licence raj” who continue to hold back Indian private investment.

Solution? Privatise, liberalise, and make sure the bureaucrats, politicos and state apparatchiks get their grubby hands off the economy. Of course, that is hardly going to be popular with those whose sole rationale for getting elected or appointed is to appropriate other people’s money. Plus, they can hide behind the convenient argument of “promoting social justice and welfare” when – as in the case of Iran’s bonyads, France’s unions, America’s congress, Russia’s bureaucrats, and our dear own officials – it is simply Animal Farm all over again.

Remember: two legs good, four legs bad. And turkeys never vote for Xmas

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By: Mohammed Issa

Mohammed Issa — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 23:04:20 +0000

Somehow this site is eating my posts

Bahrain 3rd in Trancperency list! in the Arab world… “Al-Ayam Newspaper”
Excellent way to put it…

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By: Mohammed Issa

Mohammed Issa — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 23:00:57 +0000

“Bahrain, 3rd in transparency list in the Arab region” AlAyam newspaper

Now, That’s what i call excellent news coverage!

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