Madam, - John O'Shea (Opinion, December 9th) pointed out the problem of corruption in the developing world - but is corruption not a worldwide fact? Is the developing world different?
Governments in the developed world decry poverty and deprivation and make endless promises to reform the world financial system while they exploit developing economies for resources, cheap labour and as dumping grounds for excess goods and unwanted waste.
"Trophy" projects such as dams, power plants and refineries are indeed appealing to leaders, corrupt or otherwise, but such projects are heavily "sold" from the boardrooms of big companies and corporations and funded by powerful financial interests. Schools, clinics or sanitation projects bring neither kudos nor profit and any local needs, dissent, environmental damage or backhanders can be kept out of the headlines.
But amidst the jostling for influence, wealth and contracts, there are some heroes and heroines - the many unsung and under-funded people within developing countries for whom absent services and stolen resources are not mere discussion points but a matter of life and death. More and more such people are standing up against corrupt politicians, officials and foreign forces of power and business.
John O'Shea wrote that Mobutu Sese Seko stole almost $6 million of $12 million "given" to Zaire by the IMF. Pardon me for asking, but which came first: the ineptitude of a powerful developed world financial institution or the corruption which waylaid its resources. . .again? Is the IMF at a "loss" for that $6 million? Not likely. The debt of Zaire will have increased accordingly and its people will repay (plus compound interest), ad infinitum and ahead of basic services. That's the way international finance works - for international financiers. And there is no imperative to reform because the books will balance, come deprivation or high water. - Yours, etc.,
Mrs MAIRE KELLY,
Enfield,
Co Meath.