Mapping corruption in public roads construction in Lebanon. (c2019)

Abstract

Corruption in public works construction is a problem that governments and political administrations have to contend with all over the world. Lebanon is no stranger to this situation with the country ranking in the most corrupt tier as per Transparency International (TI, 2017). Corruption in public works results in the direct loss of public monies, delays in delivery of projects, and reduced quality of the services delivered. Infrastructure expenditures represent 12 to 15% of GDP in most countries and public roads’ construction represents the largest single expense item. The work presented herein endeavored to answer the question about whether corruption is present in public roads construction projects in Lebanon, what are its most common forms and where does it appear in the project delivery process, and finally what possible remedies can be implemented to reduce it. An extensive literature review was carried out to identify the forms of corruption that could be encountered in public works in general and the roads construction sector in particular as well as possible remedial measures that could be proposed. A comprehensive questionnaire was developed and administered through structured interviews inquiring about 26 potential problems indicative of corruption and offering 10 possible remedial measures. The responses of 79 seasoned professionals were analyzed as one group and then from the perspectives of three distinct subgroups namely: contractors, consultants and public servants. Frequency indexes were calculated to rank the various forms of corruption identified and a commercial statistical analysis package was used to calculate difference/similarity in perception of corruption and correlation allowing the analysis of various connections between the answers and the identification of group bias. Results were also organized and analyzed by project delivery stage. Proposed solutions were ranked allowing the identification of consensus areas and priority interventions. This research represents the first one of its kind in Lebanon and the whole region and its quantitative and qualitative findings represent the first step in improving governance and developing anti-corruption strategies in the public works sector.