The World Bank -- again

On April 17, 2001 The Jakarta Post carried my letter Babies and corruption in which I said that in canceling the US$300 million poverty alleviation loan, the World Bank had made it clear it had found corruption in the program. I waited to see a letter from the bank's Jakarta office correcting my exaggeration; for in fact their announcement wasn't as unambiguous as that. We've all assumed that the bank's language in announcing the cancellation was a polite way of pointing to corruption within the program, and the bank has not taken any steps to correct this public perception.

The loan cancellation is a tacit acknowledgement that the bank is still after all these years either unable to figure out how to control gross corruption from within its projects, or unwilling to do what's needed. What was missing from the bank's announcement of the loan cancellation was any mention of what it planned to do about the malfeasance it discovered. (And if it did not discover malfeasance, why did it cancel such a vital program?)

Has it turned evidence over to someone to be investigated? Or blacklisted responsible program managers from eligibility for future employment for their poor management (if not outright corruption)? Or announced its findings to the public as a learning instrument? As usual the bank is silent -- the silence of dubious diplomacy or mistaken cultural sensitivity. If the bank has found wrongdoing, doesn't it have an obligation to try to recover the money or materials that were lost to corruption? If it does not do so, in justice it cannot expect Indonesia to repay the $300 million.

In the end, it is the World Bank that stands accused, again, of negligent oversight and instruction of program managers. This negligence is costing Indonesia dearly, in money and lost opportunities. When and how will it end? Will the World Bank please tell us clearly, and without platitudes and mumbo jumbo, via an article in this paper, specifically what you plan to do? Or as an alternative, correct any misperceptions and misstatements in this letter. But please, be transparent and accountable to the people of Indonesia and of those other countries whose taxpayers' pay your high salaries.

DONNA K. WOODWARD

Medan, North Sumatra