By DPA
Hanoi : A World Bank investigation into projects it funded at a troubled unit of Vietnam's Transportation Ministry found numerous "irregularities", but no direct evidence of official corruption, the bank announced at a press conference here Monday.
The bank's Department of Institutional Integrity conducted the audit of projects it had funded at the Transportation Ministry's Project Management Unit 18, or PMU-18, after Vietnamese authorities uncovered widespread corruption among officials early last year.
The bank's acting Vietnam director, Martin Rama, said that while the investigation had revealed "systemic weaknesses", there was no evidence that PMU-18 officials had engaged in fraud or corruption.
"We will not declare mis-procurement, and will not request further investigation," Rama said, "Although we reserve that possibility if problems arise in the future."
The problems at PMU-18 came to light in January 2006, after the unit's director, Bui Tien Dung, was arrested for placing millions of dollars in illegal bets on European football matches.
Further investigations showed Dung and other officials had profited from PMU-18 contracts, and led to dozens of arrests and ultimately the resignation of the country's Transportation Minister.
The World Bank review examined almost $100 million in contracts at two road improvement projects the bank had funded and though they found no evidence that PMU-18 officials themselves had accepted bribes, it uncovered a list of striking irregularities.
In some cases, separate bids on projects, ostensibly by different contractors, had identical formats, layouts and spelling mistakes. In other cases, losing bids were sloppily prepared, "suggesting that their only purpose was to create the illusion of competition," according to the bank's presentation.
The bank also found a risk of violations at the provincial, rather than central, level, including fraud and collusion among bidders. And it said there were "construction irregularities" at many of the sites visited by investigators.
The Vietnamese press has reported widespread construction flaws in roads and bridges built under PMU-18 contracts.
In recent years, the World Bank has undertaken a high-profile effort to combat corruption on projects it finances. The anti-corruption effort was the signature project of the bank's former president, Paul Wolfowitz, who resigned on May 17 after being accused of favouritism towards a bank employee with whom he had a romantic relationship.
In a press release on May 23, acting Vietnam director Rama stressed that Wolfowitz's resignation underscored the bank's commitment to anti-corruption efforts. "The resolution of this crisis shows that the World Bank takes governance issues seriously," Rama said.