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With reference to the Ben/George current exchange of views: <br><br>
Whatever is the status of "rights", of concern is the denial of
the rights of others by the greed and self interest of some. Though there
is as yet no (can be no) <i>evidence</i> of the amounts of money creamed
off school construction budgets, there are informed accounts of the sums
taken overall, such as in China: "...<i>direct costs of corruption
in 2003 could be 3 percent of GDP, roughly $86 billion, an amount
exceeding the government’s entire spending on education in
2006</i>"; and "<i>Corruption in China is concentrated in the
sectors with extensive state involvement: infrastructural projects, sale
of land user rights, real estate, government procurement, financial
services, and heavily regulated industries</i>" (both from Pei: see
Radix article). In view of statements such as these, it is unrealistic to
assume that school construction in China could have escaped serious
depletions of funding for new schools, either at central or at local
government levels, or both. <br><br>
Where this happens, anywhere, because there is less money and regardless
of what former specifications had stated, quality of construction is
reduced, and in earthquakes especially, it is construction quality that
counts. Steel reinforcement in concrete, for example, is a relatively
expensive item to procure, time consuming and therefore costly to install
and, significantly, easy to do without at the time and quickly covered by
the pouring of concrete with which it is encased. Precast concrete (pc)
units have the advantage of "factory" production, control and
inspection but on-site fixings between units are, again, time consuming,
relatively high cost therefore, and omissions are quickly covered over by
subsequent trades. Cost savings such as these would be seen as necessary,
also, by a contractor who had paid back-handers to get the contract, for
permission to build, or to construction inspectors (if there are any) to
turn the other way.<br><br>
Community participation exists, as so often reported by foreign
journalists to world media; frequently a powerful expression of people
power and common sense in observations of perceived shortcomings in
construction. Observations of "concrete" that has crumbled in
the absence of steel and/or cement, dangling pc units that have
disconnected, and sand-cement screed (finishing surface layer) that has
turned to dust, again for want of cement, are all relevant - but are from
the aftermath. Similarly, it doesn't take a highly trained eye to see
from media images the same things, also in the aftermath. But response at
the time from authorities, inspectorates or police, any or all of whom
may be complicit, appears insufficient or none existent. Instead, there's
one account of the fight by one builder to secure the quality in its
construction of one school at the epicentre that survived the China
earthquake.<br><br>
There is a world of difference between suspect practices on site, and the
external pressures that are so often their cause; from cartels and
back-handers to blatant, systemic and habitual misappropriation of funds.
The power and scale of corruption is overwhelming; when it pervades
central government as well as local government and inspectorates, there
is little hope for success in building safety until its exposure and
eradication is identified and achieved. That means not just law-making,
of which there are 1,200 in China against corruption alone (Pei), but
their realistic implementation as well - difficult when the makers and
the implementors of laws are themselves part of corruption's web.
<br><br>
Structural engineer Alpaslan Özerdem suggested some years ago a public
better informed on matters of building construction (with reference to
Turkey: Radix article. Will Turkey's aspired EU membership bring change
?). Early instruction on building construction (in school ?) would
commence a process where an informed public could oversee construction -
but there needs also to be an independent inspectorate receptive enough
to receive complaints and authoritative enough to immediately stop
construction so that investigation can be made, and a free media (not
owned by the corrupt) to expose complicity and to back-up public
participation - so that we do not have to see and read of results of
shortcomings <i>after</i> the destruction and the deaths they have
caused. <br><br>
Sincerely and with regards -<br><br>
James<br>
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