GTI Activities
Transparency case studies
The lack of transparency at the international financial institutions has real-world consequences; limiting what affected people know about dams, roads, even commitments made by their own governments.
Some of these problems have been documented, as the following selection shows. These examples are drawn from reports in freedominfo.org.
The GTI is soliciting more such case studies. Contact Toby McIntosh.
Following the transparency of the privatization process of the electro-energetic system in Macedonia
The five-year effort to privatize the power industry in Macedonia has been conceived and implemented with flawed systems for providing information to the public and now one crucial document is being kept secret.
The missing document – a contract signed in March – would shed light on the terms of the sale of Macedonia’s energy distribution system, including the duties and rights of the owner. But resistance to public disclosure came from the new owner, the Austrian firm EVN AG, which claims it must protect “commercial secrets.”
The Macedonian government would release it to the public., Under the pressure from the new owner, EVN AG, the government offered to show the agreement only to members of the independent anticorruption committee and the NGO Transparency Macedonia, but only if they promised not to talk about it. The offer was refused.
Another player in the deal, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, is apparently agnostic on whether the document should be disclosed. The EBRD, as a public lending institution, holds a big share of the deal, 19.9 percent. However, the EBRD has stated its view on whether this document should be released, and they are of the opinion that nothing could be done against the new owner desire to protect its commercial secrets. The bank has a record of honoring requests to protect confidential business information, including corporate plans for public safety in the event of a mine disaster.
The development of the restructuring and privatization processes in the electric energy sector in Macedonia, as well as the lack of transparency in the process is documented in a study by Ecosense (www.ekosvest.com.mk), a Macedonian NGO, with a grant from the Global Transparency Initiative.
Secrecy Throughout Project
The secrecy surrounding the distribution sales agreement is not the first transparency problems regarding the privatization effort, which is in the final stages now. Further actions of some other parts of the system are possibly to come.
The early years were beset by a lack of disclosure about the options under consideration. An agreement with the government in which the EBRD promised to help finance the privatization was not disclosed.
Later, the three models for privatization prepared for the government by an Austrian Menel bank were not presented by the Government to the public before the privatization model was adopted or made the topic for public consultations. After the selection of one option, there was significant public opposition. The government enlisted a non-governmental organization, Transparency-Macedonia to help solve the transparency deficit. The World Bank weighed in, too, indicated to the problems with some of the current Macedonian legislation and the government adopted another approach, separating the distribution and the production facilities.
The sale of the distribution facilities for 225 million euros in March culminated this stage of the process. Subsequently the same Austrian company owner has apparently been proclaimed as the best bidder of the bidding for one of the thermo power plants, but the final outcome of that process is still not definite, and could possibly be changed by the new elected government. Read more
Documents Spur Debate about World Bank, Delhi Water Deal
Documents released recently under Delhi's freedom of information law raised a major public controversy over World Bank involvement in contract bidding and fueled a public debate over possible privatization of the Delhi water system. On July 28, Indian anti-corruption group Parivartan, citing internal documents it obtained through a freedom of information request, charged that World Bank officials had repeatedly overruled Indian civil servants in the selection of a contractor to plan a reform of Delhi's water system. Read more
World Bank Denies Access to Documents on Laos Dam Project
The World Bank has rejected requests to disclose several key documents concerning the controversial $1.1 billion Nam Theun 2 hydropower project in Laos. The documents -- the "power purchase agreement" and the "concession agreement" -- must stay private, the Bank said, because they contain proprietary commercial information that the Bank said it promised not to reveal. Critics of the dam project who requested the two documents, however, consider the information they contain essential to the evaluation of the project's economic viability and its other consequences. "This is critical information for the public to access, so there can be an informed debate about the benefits of the project to the Lao people," according to Aviva Imhof, Director of the Southeast Asia Program for the International Rivers Network. Read more
Ugandan Judge Orders Release of Key Document on Bujagali Dam
Relying on the open government clause of the Ugandan constitution, a top Ugandan judge Nov. 12 ordered the release of a key document about a controversial dam project that the Ugandan government and the World Bank declined to disclose. The Power Purchase Agreement, whose very existence the Ugandan government denied during the court proceedings, defines the business arrangements relating to a controversial River Nile dam project. Critics of the so-called Bujagali Dam, which is funded by the World Bank, argue that the commercial terms misstated the benefits of the electric-generating dam. Greenwatch Limited sued the Ugandan government to obtain the Power Purchasing Agreement (PPA). The Ugandan nongovernmental organization, represented by Kenneth Kakaru, contended that disclosure was required under Article 41 of the Ugandan constitution. Read more
Lack of Transparency a Major Controversy in Cambodian Logging Dispute
A series of six articles reprinted with permission from The Cambodia Daily provide a vivid description of the importance of transparency and public review. The first article sets the stage, describing the controversy surrounding logging operations in Cambodia supported by the World Bank. The subsequent articles describe vividly the efforts of villagers to obtain copies of Cambodian government documents describing plans for the logging. The villagers protested in front of World Bank offices, only to learn that there weren't enough copies and that black-and-white copies of the colored maps were unreadable. Eventually only a very limited distribution of the color maps was made. Controversy flared over the adequacy of a 19-day public review period and the accuracy of the documents. Read more
Release of Secret Loan Document in Uruguay Fuels Public Debate
The leak of a usually secret document describing the terms of a recent World Bank loan to Uruguay has stoked public anger at conditions attached to the loan, according to activists and journalists there. The release also showed how much crucial information was being withheld from the public. The document signed by Uruguay's finance minister made newspaper headlines this summer and was fodder for many radio broadcasts. The text was even reprinted in full in a major newspaper. For transparency activists, disclosure of the 12-page document provided evidence that such materials contain important information that should be in the public domain. The story also demonstrates how nongovernmental organizations serve as interpretive intermediaries and how the lack of Spanish translation of documents by the World Bank inhibits public knowledge. Read more
Transparency, the IDB and Plan Puebla-Panama
An examination of the controversy over the Inter-American Development Bank's multi-billion-dollar development plan for southern Mexico and Central America, with specific attention to information access, public consultation, and participation of stakeholders Read more
13th October 2005
