In the case of Barranca-Peñas Blancas, a 200-kilometre and US $16.8 million stretch of the main highway in the north of the country is defective. The investigation showed poor project planning and administration. The decision by CONAVI to waive the preliminary studies required under the terms of the contract is expected to spark an investigation into the reasons behind the irregularities. The money was paid to the contractor even though the work was delayed by 50 days, 80 kilometres of the road have yet to be repaired, and the private company that was subcontracted to monitor the quality of the cement failed in its task. The work went US $4 million over budget. LANAMME’s work ends with technical evaluation, but this may well, as in the
above cases, produce enough evidence to trigger investigations into the reasons behind poor decision-taking and poor quality work, and in particular whether corruption was involved. The question now is whether the agencies responsible for looking into the political and criminal dimensions of the many cases LANAMME has investigated have the political will to build on the technical work. A related need is for LANAMME to gain financial independence from CONAVI, which currently has the authority to reduce LANAMME’s budget unilaterally. Statistics for the sector demonstrate the urgency of LANAMME’s work: only 23 per cent of the country’s roads are in a good state of repair, while 38 per cent are in bad condition.
Roxana Salazar and Mario Carazo (Transparencia Costa Rica) Further reading Villasuso Estomba and Juan Manuel, Corrupción en Costa Rica: análisis, discusión y propuesta de acción (Corruption in Costa Rica: analysis, discussion and proposed actions) (San José: Fundación Ebert, 2003) Rodolfo Saborío Valverde, ‘Rendición de cuentas en Costa Rica: diagnóstico y ensayo de sistematización’ (Accountability in Costa Rica: diagnosis and systematisation) in Colección de documentos del Instituto Internacional de Gobernabilidad, October 2003 Roxana Salazar y Mario Carazo, Guía sobre rendición de cuentas. Un compendio (Guide to accountability) (San José: Transparencia Internacional Costa Rica, 2004) Roxana Salazar y Mario Carazo, Principios empresariales antisoborno (Anti-bribery business principles) (San José: Transparencia Costa Rica, 2004) Transparencia Costa Rica (TI Costa Rica): www.transparenciacr.org Note 1. The story was reported in the national newspapers La Nación, Diario Extra, Diario Al Día and La Prensa Libre in May 2004.
Croatia Corruption Perceptions Index 2004 score: 3.5 (67th out of 146 countries) Conventions: Council of Europe Civil Law Convention on Corruption (ratified June 2003) Council of Europe Criminal Law Convention on Corruption (ratified November 2000) UN Convention against Corruption (signed December 2003; not yet ratified) UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (ratified January 2003)
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