CORRUPTION IN THE WATER SECTOR - CATALYST FOR WATER CRISIS

Corruption in the water sector is a root cause and catalyst for the global water crisis that threatens billions of lives and exacerbates environmental degradation, according to the Global Corruption Report 2008: Corruption in the Water Sector, released today by Transparency International (TI).

“Water is a resource without substitute. It is paramount to our health, our food security, our energy future and our ecosystem. But corruption plagues water management and use in all these areas,” said Huguette Labelle, Chair of Transparency International.

The report, the first of its kind to explore the impact and scope of corruption in different segments of the water sector, identifies a range of problems, from petty bribery in water delivery to procurement-related looting of irrigation and hydropower funds; from covering up industrial pollution to manipulation of water management and allocation policies.

“Corruption’s impact on water is a fundamental governance problem, yet it is not sufficiently addressed in the many global policy initiatives for environmental sustainability, development, and food and energy security. This must change,” added Labelle.

The water crisis is undeniable and the corruption challenge it faces is urgent. More than 1 billion people worldwide have no guaranteed access to water and more than 2 billion are without adequate sanitation, which has devastating consequences for development and poverty reduction.

Corruption thwarts global response to climate change and global food shortage .

“Climate change requires the world to come up with what is likely to be the most far-reaching and complex global governance framework ever devised. Without addressing the corruption risks, especially as they relate to water, such plans stand on shaky ground”, said Labelle. The report demonstrates corruption’s potential to obstruct effective enforcement of water-sharing pacts and resettlement arrangements, both key to confronting the fallout from climate change.

Irrigated land helps produce 40 per cent of the world’s food, but corruption in irrigation is rampant. Addressing this risk is fundamental to increasing food production and tackling the global food crisis. “Massive new investments in irrigation have been announced worldwide to help counter the food crisis, yet water shortage means food shortage and if corruption in irrigation is not also addressed, these efforts will fall short,” stated Labelle.

For the Philippines, which has allocated close to US$1 billion for irrigation and related agricultural improvements, the report presents case evidence of how corruption has hindered the building and performance of irrigation dams. In India, a country at the centre of the crisis, corruption is estimated to add at least 25 per cent to irrigation contracts and the proceeds help maintain a corrupt system of political handouts and compromised oversight. In the end, investment costs rise, systems are rendered inefficient and small farmers are left especially vulnerable to water shortage.

Drinking water and sanitation: the poor carry the greatest burden .

When corruption occurs, the cost of connecting a household to a water network increases by up to 30 per cent, raising the price tag for achieving the Millennium Development Goals for water and sanitation by a staggering US$48 billion, according to expert estimates in the report.

Corruption in drinking water and sanitation emerges at every point along the water delivery chain; from policy design and budgeting to building, maintaining and operating water networks. It drains investment from the sector, increases prices and decreases water supplies. One result is that poor households in Jakarta, Lima, Nairobi or Manila spend more on water than residents of New York City, London or Rome.

Industrialised countries are not immune. Corruption has plagued the tendering of water contracts in cities like Grenoble, Milan, New Orleans and Atlanta. Likewise, cases of bid-rigging and price-fixing in water infrastructure provision have surfaced in Sweden, while in Chicago water budgets fell victim to misuse for political campaigning.

Risks for the environment and energy security

Corruption in water resources management undermines the sustainability of water supplies, fuels highly unequal water sharing which can incite political conflict and fosters the degradation of vital ecosystems. In China, for example, corruption has weakened the enforcement of environmental regulations, abetting the pollution of aquifers in 90 percent of cities and making over 75 per cent of urban rivers unsuitable for drinking or fishing.

Corruption in hydropower inflates the cost of dams and related projects. It also makes re-settlement more challenging by preying on compensation funds and initiatives meant to aid displaced people.

The stakes are high: hydropower accounts for one-sixth of the world’s electricity production and investment volumes are projected to reach US$60 billion annually over the next 20 years.

A time for action: solutions to clean up the water sector

Corrupt conditions in water persist because their greatest impact is exacted on those with the least chance of redress, disproportionately affecting women, the poor and those with no voice at all: future generations and the environment.

Nonetheless, as the Global Corruption Report shows, taking action against corruption in the water sector is both timely and feasible.

Key recommendations of the report include:

Establish transparency and participation as guiding principles for all aspects of water governance: From transparent budgeting and participatory policy-making to public mapping of water pollution, public audits of projects and access to contract terms and performance reports, transparency and participation strengthen integrity in water governance, but need to be adopted globally.

Strengthen regulatory oversight: Government and the public sector continue to play the most prominent role in water governance and should establish effective regulatory oversight, whether for the environment, water and sanitation, agriculture or energy.

Institutional reform and capacity-building are essential to bring oversight in water up to the standards already achieved in other sectors .

Ensure fair competition and accountable implementation of water projects: All stakeholders have a role to play. Contracts should incorporate anti-corruption measures. Governments and contractors can enter into agreements for fair public procurement. Lenders and donors must strengthen anti-bribery provisions in their due diligence requirements.

Transparency International, along with the International Water and Sanitation Centre, the Stockholm International Water Institute, the Swedish Water House and the Water and Sanitation Program-Africa founded the Water Integrity Network (WIN) in 2006.

Today WIN is a growing network of organisations and individuals that fights corruption in all parts of the water sector. The Global Corruption Report 2008 benefited from expert and financial support from WIN.

GENESIS OF A CONSUMER CO-OPERATIVE

Littleton businessmen Jeff Wheeler and Michael Claflin think North County consumers pay too much for their groceries and have too little choice.

And about a year and a half ago, they came up with a plan. “Right around Thanksgiving time we were lamenting the options for shopping and it suddenly struck us that maybe it would be worthwhile to try and see whether we could get something going in the form of a coop.”

It was a Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney moment: Let’s put on a show.

Now, in addition to their real jobs, Wheeler is president of the Littleton Consumer Cooperative Society and Claflin is vice president. They have no paid staff, but dozens of volunteers. And they’re making progress.

Even with no store to shop in yet, The Littleton co-op has more than 650 dues-paying members. It has a deal pending to buy a four-acre site at the corner of Route 302 and Cottage Street and a contractor ready to build. They’ve got a half million dollar grant from the New Hampshire Community Development Finance Authority.

“Someone will throw you a curveball every now and then but for the most part we have been very, very fortunate. Everybody has been upbeat, everybody has been, ‘Well if we can’t do it that way we will do it this way.’ So far, we have done quite well.”

But they are facing a critical challenge. That grant money depends on getting $450,000 in loans from co-op supporters. So far they are just over halfway there, but the deadline is September 1st. If that grant doesn’t come through then local banks will reconsider their promise of about 3 million dollars.

That money is needed to build the their 13 thou,500 square foot building.

Anne Reynolds is the assistant director at the University of Wisconsin Center for Cooperatives.

She says starting a coop is typically a struggle.

“Most people who work in coop development would say that cooperatives are perhaps harder to start than any other type of business but once they have been started their chance of success is greater than your typical small business.” Much of Claflin’s and Wheeler’s inspiration comes from down river in Hanover. There, the Hanover Consumer Cooperative Society has been hugely successful.

SOUND OF PEOPLE SHOPPING AND STORE BUSTLE

This co-op was founded in 1936 during the depression. Then, seventeen families banded together, hoping to improve their purchasing power. Now, the Hanover Co-op has 300 employees, and they added a store in Lebanon in 1997.

Last year they did $66 million in business. Of that, nearly 3 quarters of a million dollars came back in profits. And members shared more than half a million dollars in refunds based on how much they spent during the year.

Littleton plans to operate under the same, classic co-op philosophy. That, says Anne Reynolds at the Center for Cooperatives, means giving the consumer the most for their money instead of trying to maximize profits. Reynolds: “They don’t have any incentive really to do anything except respond to their members needs and that takes that predatory aspect out of their business philosophy.” Another example of how a coop’s philosophy can be different shows up in The Lebanon store’s decision not to have a bakery.

Members considered baking in-house, but decided it would hurt local bakeries and consequently the community economy. Allan Reetz is a Hanover co-op spokesman.

“By making the choice not to build a bakery it might have hurt our bottom line a little bit but we also knew we would have great breads to offer members and customers alike and it is a better business practice for the health of the business community.”

Wheeler and Claflin want the Littleton coop to have the same kind of relationship with local businesses and farmers. They say the Littleton co-op should support the local economy, not try to dominate it. And by keeping their profit margins as low as possible they hope to keep prices down. If everything goes well the Littleton co-op hopes to open the store late this year or early in 2009.

CONFERENCE ON HOUSING, URBAN PROPERTY AND ENVIRONMENT

Dates: Dec 02, 2008 - Dec 04, 2008

Call for Papers :— Conference on Housing, Urban Poverty and Environment.

This is a call for researchers, practitioners, and policy-makers working on housing, urban poverty and environment issues to participate in an upcoming IDRC-sponsored expert meeting to be held in Kampala, Uganda, on December 2-4, 2008.

According to the UN, humanity will reach a major demographic milestone in 2008, when the world’s population becomes predominantly urban for the first time in history. As the urbanization trend continues, in developing countries —in Sub-Saharan Africa in particular— it is likely to be characterized by increasing urban poverty and expanding slums.

At present, one billion people are slum dwellers, many who live in inadequate housing and with limited services, under health- and life-threatening circumstances that perpetuate cycles of poverty.UNFP’s 2007 State of World Population report emphasizes the tremendous influence that improving housing in urban areas can have on poverty reduction and the environment.

More than just providing shelter and safety, housing is also necessary for maintaining a minimum level of health and well being, and it can have profound effects on social and human development.

Housing can be considered a productive asset, as many of the productive and income-generating activities carried out by the urban poor take place within and around the home.

Housing is often the most valuable asset that poor urban dwellers acquire in their lifetimes.

Location: Kampala

Country: Uganda

CO-OPERATIVE HOUSING COMMUNITIES - ANOTHER UPCOMMING LADY HOUSING CO-OPERATOR

June 19, 2008

Last summer, while on retreat in southern France, Francoise Paradis decided that all the reading she had been doing about cooperative housing communities needed to become a reality for her.

So, she began to design Greensward Hamlet, a so-called co-housing community, which would be an environmentally friendly development using geothermal, solar and wind energy, where people would live in a tight-knit group, share meals in a common house and grow some of their food together.

Despite the feel-good nature of the new community, which would start being built in Buxton later this year, residents so far are not convinced that 20 condominiums at the end of a dirt road off Route 117 is the right direction for the neighborhood or the town in general.

Paradis' project, which would include unpaved roads and walking trails on nearly 30 acres at the end of Marshall Lane, faced opposition from neighbors when it went before the Planning Board last week.

“What are we giving away in Buxton?” Mel Howards asked the Planning Board during a public hearing June 9 on the project. Howards questioned Paradis' stated concern for building a community, while at the same time developing land in Buxton and stepping on the toes of the community that already lives there.

Paradis' opponents have gone as far as accusing her of deceiving the Buxton Planning Board, reasoning that the cost of a fossil-fuel-free development as Paradis proposed is too expensive to ever become a reality. Despite residents with concerns about the impact of a large development on well water, traffic, or simply the long-standing way of life in Buxton, the Planning Board has so far voted that the project is meeting the general requirements to go forward.

“I was a little surprised,” Paradis said, about the strength of opposition to her project voiced at the Planning Board meeting.

Paradis, who lives in Saco, is proposing to build five buildings with four condos in each, with a couple of attached, “in-law” apartments. And, perhaps most important for the style of the development, she also proposes a common house, where neighbors will be able to engage in community meals, meetings and activities.

The co-housing community is, according to Paradis, a decades-old living style developed first in Denmark. Many co-housing projects develop around a theme. Paradis' project — Greensward Hamlet — is focusing on sustainable living and a return to nature. The design includes harnessing energy from geothermal systems, solar panels and a small wind turbine called a Windspire. The geothermal design should keep any of the condo owners from having a heating bill.

Paradis hopes to be connected to “the grid” for electrical power, but expects that enough natural energy would be generated to power the development. Paradis is working to get the entire project LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified by the U.S. Green Building Council.

“I think it is the way the world is going to go,” Susan King said about the sustainable nature of the project. King is a Gorham resident who has known Paradis for five years and participated in some focus groups Paradis organized to figure out what the cohousing community would look like. She isn't sure if she'll be able to purchase one of the condos, but she hopes to.

“The concept is out there, but what I find is that people don't really understand it,” King said.

There is one other co-housing community development in Maine, Two Echo Cohousing Community in Brunswick. Two other projects, one in Edgecomb and one in Gouldsboro, are also forming. There are some 900 projects across the country, but Paradis said only 113 are actually established.

At the Two Echo community in Brunswick, no cars are allowed up to where the houses wind around dirt paths. Gardens, trees, benches, picnic tables, and freshly chopped wood line the walkway.

With the sustainable approach to the project, Greensward Hamlet would likely attract people who are committed to gardening and cooking together, sharing community duties and being attuned to environmental issues. Smoking would be banned, alcohol discouraged, and carpooling and bicycling encouraged. The public would have access to some 18 acres of land webbed with hiking trails. Despite all the planned outreach and environmental goals, residents are concerned about the effect the development would have on those who live on the small dirt road where it would be located.

Because of the new residents and increased traffic, the town would require that Marshall Lane would have to be built up and paved. Lucy Gorham said at the meeting she feared she wouldn't be able to access the land she owns on both sides of the road unless culverts were installed at Paradis' expense. But it was pointed out that even then, the only town requirement is that two access points be installed on each side of the road.

Pat and Paulette Langevin operate Angels Retreat Assisted Living from their home at 50 Marshall Lane. They said are afraid the paving of the road and increased traffic would mean their elderly residents would no longer be able to walk down the road. They bought the home from Paradis, who used to operate her psychological services practice there.

"When we bought it, we bought it for the privacy," said Paulette Langevin. Next to the Langevins is Joyce Larrabbee, who said she never had a problem with Paradis in the five years Paradis lived next to her, but she didn't like the project when it was first proposed. She's still concerned about the traffic impact of 20 condos, and about water levels. She also asked how much one of the new condos was going to cost. Paradis did not have concrete numbers, but said a one-bedroom unit might be around $200,000.

However, for Howards, a neighbor though not an abutter, “the whole thing is a disaster.” Despite the character of the development, it's still a development of previously undeveloped land, he said.

Paradis sees the access she is offering to the trails and the sustainable nature of her project as being good things for both communities – the one she's creating and neighbors.

Residents also said they were concerned that Paradis clear-cut her property in 2005. Paradis responded that she regrets the clear-cutting and that it had been her intent to remove only old growth to let new growth flourish. She said the loggers "massacred" the property.

The Planning Board was not in agreement last week on whether the project mets the basic requirements for site plan approval. Voting on the individual standards at their meeting last week, one member, David Anderson, thought the project could adversely affect property values. Because only four of the seven board members were at the meeting - two were absent and James Logan recused himself due to conflict of interest- if just one other member had voted as Anderson did, the whole project would have failed.

Board members also disagreed over whether there was adequate fire protection, which also almost caused the project to be rejected.

But the Planning Board, after over an hour of discussion, gave Paradis approval for the project on the conditions that Paradis creates a back-up water supply for fire crews and installs culverts so Lucy Gorham can access her property. Paradis also has to get approval by the Department of Environmental Protection, which held a public hearing on Tuesday. Paradis said that application should come through within the next two months.

Brunswick residents raised concerns similar to the citizens in Buxton when Two Echo was forming, according to Doug Benner. He can see Two Echo across his back yard, which slopes down and then backs up to where 26 homes are built, tightly knit around the common house.

Kaplan Thompson Architects' rendering of Greensward Hamlet, a co-housing project proposed in Buxton. “Initially, I was quite opposed,” Benner said. “It was undeveloped farmland. But realistically, we could have had houses every two acres.” “As far as development goes, I think it's pretty darn good,” he said, noting that he would have preferred no development.“Everything they do that might affect us, or impose on us, they keep us advised,” he said. “It's a great place for kids.”

As for the worst of it, “there's some traffic, but it hasn't been horrendous.” Paradis is hoping to start moving people into the new development by next spring. She said she has five commitments from individuals to buy condos already, and another five are strongly interested. She expects all the units would bought within two years.

Co-housing communities are essentially sub-developments designed to engage its residents in shared activities. Whether the development consists of detached homes or condomiums, the living spaces are built around a common house, where residents join together for meals, have community meetings and make decisions together on what should happen in the community. Community vegetable gardens are often a central piece of the development plan.

For more information, visit the Cohousing Association of the United States' Web site at www.cohousing.org.

For more information on Francoise Paradis' Buxton project, see www.greenswardhamlet.com. Add your comments

TEACHERS' COOPERATIVES - PHILIPPINES

Iloilo City (18 June)

The Department of Education (DepEd) has committed itself to provide assistance to all teachers' cooperatives in the country to participate in the implementation of Negosyong Pang-Eskwela initially started in the national capital region and soon, nationwide.

Education Secretary Jeslie Lapus said in a press release, he affirmed this commitment to the development of teachers cooperatives whom he places much faith in its success.

The DepEd had recently signed a Memorandum of Agreement with the Federation of Teachers Cooperatives (FTC) and other partner agencies like the Cooperative Development Authority, the Philippine Cooperative Center and the Polytechnic University of the Philippines.

The MOA stipulates that DepEd allows its teachers to join activities pertinent to the implementation of the project on official time, as necessary.

It also provides for the DepEd to encourage all school officials to support the projects necessary to promote and develop cooperatives in schools.

Lapus said establishing a cooperative is not a picnic, saying that as professionals, teachers are in the best position to illustrate the noble values of honesty, commitment and cooperation that they often teach their pupils and students.

He had asked the assistance of the PUP to design a practical training program in cooperative management for Negosyong Pang-Eskwela officers, to ensure the high quality of management of school cooperatives.

ALEXANDRA WILSON - CANADA'S VALIANT CO-OPERATOR

From a teenager fighting rental conversion to CEO of a national agency

MONTREAL, June 14

In 1974, when Alexandra Wilson was still a teenager, she led her fellow tenants in a fight to protect their heritage apartment complex in the Riverdal neighbourhood of Toronto. The tenants stopped the Bain Apartments from being redeveloped by buying the complex and converting it to a non-profit housing co-operative that is still providing affordable rental housing today. That accomplishment and the many that followed are the reason Alexandra Wilson will be named Honorary Life Associate by the Co-operative Housing Federation of Canada.

The presentation will take place this evening during CHF Canada's annual general meeting at the Westin Harbour Castle Convention Centre.

Today, Alexandra is Chief Executive Officer of the Agency for Co-operative Housing.

The Agency started in 2006 and administers federal co-operative housing programs in BC, Alberta, Ontario and PEI.She has given her time and expertise to many aspects of co-operative housing. After first working as Bain co-op's property manager, Alexandra joined the Co-operative Housing Federation of Toronto.

During her time as managing director of CHFT, membership doubled and hundreds of new co-op units were developed. When the federal government planned to end funding for non-profit co-op housing development, Alexandra was part of a team that proposed a new co-op housing program more affordable for government. The government approved the new ILM program that pioneered the use of index-linked mortgages in Canada.

After three years working in the International Affairs department of the Canadian Co-operative Association, she joined CHF Canada as executive director in 1990 .

In 1995, the federal government announced its intention to devolve responsibility for its housing programs and the co-operatives developed under them. Recognizing that this would harm the national co-operative housing movement, CHF Canada presented a proposal to government for an innovative, arm's-length agency to administer co-operative housing programs.After a national lobbying campaign by co-op members across Canada, the federal government stopped the devolution of co-op housing programs in most provinces.

The Agency for Co-operative Housing took on the administration of federal co-op programs in 2006. Alexandra has been an active housing co-op member in both Toronto and Ottawa.

She has served as CHF Canada's representative to the International Co-operative Alliance's Housing Committee and serves on the Board of Directors of The Co-operators.

PAKISTAN - WARNING FOR CAUTION INVESTING IN HOUSING

LAHORE,June 15 (APP):

The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Punjab has warned general public to observe utmost caution while making investment in housing and so-called lucrative prize schemes to circumvent changes of possible deceit and save their hard earned money.

Director General Punjab,Shah Nawaz Badar told APP here Sunday that as part of awareness plan, NAB has issued a comprehensive guideline for the general public to stay them away from fraudulent dealing in the housing sector and other so-called lucrative prize schemes as investigations have already been launched against various fake housing schemes.

These investigations were initiated on receipt of large number complaints by NAB.

According to the guideline, NAB has asked public not to pay heed to misleading advertisements/publicity campaign and physically examine the location of any proposed housing scheme, available land and the number of residential and commercial plots.

Those who are desirous of getting plots should check the registration and NOC for detailed lay-out plan issued by concerned development authorities i.e. CDA, RDA, LDA, TMA or Circle Registrar Cooperatives to the housing schemes.

As far the private builders, developers or construction companies are concerned, its registration and proper approval from the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan is mandatory for collecting amounts for housing scheme.

Shah Nawaz Badar said that moreover, the applicants must confirm that the company has acquired and taken possession of land, houses, flats and these have been fully developed before publication of advertisement.

While examining the file of a plot, exact plot number, street number,sector, phase number and development charges etc of the scheme are clearly mentioned and a proper development schedule/ completion date is provided as knowledge and vigilance is the best way to stay away from frauds, says the guideline. NAB has also asked the general public to submit their complaints along with documentary evidence for initiating proper probe against fake housing schemes.

DG said that a universal access numbers 042-111622622 and 042-9203630 upto four lines have been installed for lodging complaints against unscrupulous elements.