Worldwide, the construction sector is regularly rated as the most corrupt industry. Even so, the scale and effects of this corruption are frequently underestimated. The 2005 edition of Transparency International"s Global Corruption Report shows that corruption in the construction industry has the power to shape and devastate economies. It has the power to ruin livelihoods and, under certain circumstances, to take lives. This book outlines the particular characteristics of the construction industry that enable the corrupt to plunder the vast amounts of international funds that pour into large-scale infrastructure projects. Whether through international bribes paid to secure contracts for the Lesotho Dam, or the politicians implicated in the purchase of a waste incinerator in Cologne, the report reveals how corruption steers money away from essential services and development projects. In a special section dedicated to post-conflict reconstruction, the report shows! how, from Angola to...