‘The thing is, corruption in infrastructure happens not only in flood-control projects. Rather, it has been the norm in nearly every government infrastructure.’
MAHIYA naman kayo!
This was the President’s stern admonition last week to corrupt government officials on the heels of the severe and massive floods brought about by three typhoons and habagat that swept the country last month.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. was, of course, directly referring to those whose hands may have been stained by the corruption that attended the government’s flood-control projects.
These projects have cost taxpayers hundreds of billions of pesos over the years. And the result has only been worse and worse flooding year after year.
I take the President’s statement as nothing short of an indictment of our system of government infrastructure that has been corrupted from the day we created the “district system” for the delivery of government programs and projects. (But that is another matter that we can take up in another piece.)
The thing is, corruption in infrastructure happens not only in flood-control projects. Rather, it has been the norm in nearly every government infrastructure.
Only the damaging result of corruption in flood-control projects has been more felt because of the destructive floods that came in its aftermath.
In truth, however, corruption in the government’s infrastructure program bears a heavy toll on the environment, multiplying the impact of climate change.
Corruption in infra bears a heavy toll on the environment.
Consider how many times we have to repair roads, bridges and other structures because of substandard construction, because of corruption?
How about those roads still in good condition but dug up and “repaired” for no reason other than, well, there’s a percentage for its “reconstruction?”
Consider how many excavations of otherwise roads in good condition to put in drainage, or cables, or whatever?
How about those structures that have become nothing but white elephants?
Because of these, how many megatons of sand and gravel do we haul from our rivers every day and every year?
Because of these, how many mountains of rocks and limestone have we levelled to the ground by quarrying?
How many particulates have we released to the atmosphere because of non-stop construction, polluting the air we breathe?
How much carbon dioxide did all these constructions added to global warming?
The environment is an innocent victim of corruption in government infrastructure.
Wipe out corruption and help save the environment.
