Wednesday, 27 October 2010 17:34 Mizzima News
Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – Burma continues to languish near the bottom of international rankings regarding corruption in the public sphere, according to the latest findings of a global civil society organisation.
Compiled by Transparency International, the Corruption Perceptions Index 2010, released yesterday, catalogues 178 countries on the perceived level of corruption existing in the public sector. Burma finished in a tie with Afghanistan for 176th on the chart, besting only the troubled East African country of Somalia.
Nearly three-quarters of all countries scored below five in their overall points tally, in which 10 denotes a very clean environment and zero a high level of corruption. For the second consecutive year, Burma scored a 1.4.
Only Singapore and Brunei, of Burma’s neighbours and Asean, managed to eclipse the five-point barrier. Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines, Cambodia and Laos each failed to reach three points on the scale.
In addition to a positive correlation between the level of violence in a given country and the incidence of corruption, the report found “transparency and accountability are critical to restoring trust and turning back the tide of corruption”.
Concerning Burma, and in further testament to the lack of peace, transparency and accountability in the country, the results for the Southeast Asian nation were compiled using the minimum of three, out of a potential 13, surveys for which data was sought.
Input for the analysis, the organisation said, was compiled from “different assessments and business opinion surveys carried out by independent and reputable institutions … [T]he surveys and assessments used to compile the index include questions relating to bribery of public officials, kickbacks in public procurement, embezzlement of public funds and questions that probe the strength and effectiveness of public sector anti-corruption efforts”.
Denmark, Singapore and New Zealand shared top honours in the rankings, each scoring 9.3, respectively.
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
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