Transparency Solomon Islands is hosting a roundtable with government and development partners on Friday 25^th of March to initiate the piloting of a project that will assess the corruption risks within the process of identifying and selection public infrastructure projects.

In preparation for the piloting of the Infrastructure Corruption Risk Assessment Tool, TSI is holding a roundtable with Government and Development Partners active in this sector. The roundtable will bring together representatives from the Ministry of Infrastructure Development, the Auditor General, the Director General of SICAC, the Ministry of National Planning and Development Coordination, as well as representatives from the ADB, and development partners from Japan, Australia and New Zealand.

The ICRAT tool assists representatives from civil society organisations, government and businesses, to identify, assess and communicate the corruption risks during the selection of infrastructure projects – when decisions are made about what type of projects are needed. The tool identifies the loopholes that enable corruption to take hold early in the infrastructure project cycle and guides the user to communicate these risks to decision makers and propose mitigating measures.

Why Solomon Islands needs such a tool. Current infrastructure investment globally is high and needs to increase over the next decade to meet the Sustainable Development Goals, deal with climate change and stimulate the economy following the Covid-19 downturn. The Global Infrastructure Hub estimates that of the $94 trillion USD needed to meet global infrastructure needs by 2040, there will be a $15 trillion investment gap.

 

Weak governance and corruption can have serious consequences for infrastructure projects. If the project selection process is manipulated and corruption or undue influence is able to gain a foothold it can lead to cost blowouts, poor quality or white elephant projects, poorly aligned with the public’s need. Reducing the losses associated with poor infrastructure governance could significantly reduce this gap and ensure there is more money to go towards projects the community needs.

 

The ICRAT tool will be implemented in the Solomon Islands led by Transparency Solomon Islands in partnership with Transparency International Australia. The work is guided by TI’s multistakeholder approach and this work begins  by hosting roundtable discussions with government and development partners. Transparency Solomon Islands is partnering with national CSO’s to carry out the assessments and communicate these findings to decision makers in the coming months.

 

For more information call into  Transparency Solomon Island’s office at Hyundai Mall Room 226 or ring 28319 or 20391.

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