Bank withdraw bridge found as compliance concern

Bank withdraw bridge found as compliance concern

Padma Bridge is not the first case in recent years where the World Bank has withdrawn funding because of compliance concerns. In February last year it cancelled a risk guarantee to the Nairobi Toll Road in Kenya because of weak governance on the project.
The Consortium itself was spawned a little over a year ago as SAGE gathered during their regular spring meeting. Each association represented in the Consortium has been working for years to develop, refine, maintain and promote certification as the next step forward for the future of their respective sand maker industry.

“Certification of companies or individuals is a topic found in all segments of the construction market as builders and code departments attempt to establish competency and accountability in construction, “ said James Baty, Technical Director of CFA and TCA. “In the end, it is about assurance and knowing that an industry segment has a commitment opportunity that results in that assurance. It must have been with mixed emotions that the World Bank withdrew its US$ 1.2 billion loan from the badly needed US$ 2.9 billion Padma Bridge in Bangladesh, but it sends a strong message that corruption is being taken seriously. It has to be said that the World Bank has not always been as rigorous in fighting bribery as it could have been, although its stance has become much stronger in recent years. I hope it will take further, more proactive steps in the future. CFA determined that a combined message of the importance of certification throughout the concrete industry was the best way to hold the attention and the commitment of the entire industry rather than it being just another certification,” said Baty.
As a group, the associations will concentrate on providing concrete industry professionals with certification opportunities. According to Christi Collins, Executive Director of the ACPA, maintaining the strictest standards for safety in the concrete industry is crucial. “Every contractor has an obligation to provide a safe work environment for their workers and utilizing the most qualified, knowledgeable and professional personnel in their respective fields will help them achieve this assurance. In terms of enforcement, the number of contractors being debarred by the World Bank for corrupt practices is rising. As well as its own work on this, the wider development bank community has had a more co-ordinated approach to the problem, with an agreement signed in 2010 that means a contractor debarred by one institution can be made ineligible for work funded by any of the major multi-lateral banks.Through the collaborative promotion efforts of the CICC, we are able to expand the awareness of our pump operator certification program which will go a long ways towards improving the overall quality of our ball mill industry,” said Collins.