Guilty as charged

Feb 26th 2009

A flawed project in Albania has highlighted some broader concerns
ReutersA large, embarrassing footprint on Albania's sands
WHEN Robert Zoellick took over the World Bank in 2007—after months of bitter wrangling over professional favours done by its former president, Paul Wolfowitz, for his girlfriend—many people hoped that happier times lay head for the institution.

So it was a shock to hear Mr Zoellick describe as “appalling” the bank’s behaviour over a bungled project to develop the coast of Albania. He was responding to the findings of a bank-appointed panel which found a clear link between the wrongful demolition of 16 homes in the coastal town of Jale and the project, to which the bank had pledged $17.5m. ....

Go directly to Jale
Indeed, the demolitions were carried out by the Albanian construction police, not the bank. But the panel found that the aerial photographs which identified the targets for demolition were provided by staff in the project co-ordination unit, and that they used World Bank funds to get them taken. These photographs were then sent to the construction police, along with a letter from the project co-ordinator asking for action to be taken “as fast as possible”.

The construction police responded to the project co-ordinator’s request with alacrity, arriving in the hamlet of Jale to demolish the “illegal” houses in the early hours of the morning. This eagerness to please was probably not entirely out of respect for the World Bank: the project co-ordinator was the son-in-law of Albania’s prime minister, Sali Berisha, who has recently turned his ire on the bank.

more see: http://www.economist.com/world/international/displaystory.cfm?story_id=13185165