ABSTRACT
For an aid project, the press coverage in Britain was quite without precedent. From the publication of the NAO report in October 1993 to the publication of the FAC report in July 1994, there was rarely a week when some aspect of the Pergau story wasn’t in the news. And the story reappeared in the wake of the court ruling in November 1994. The Times printed over 50 articles, editorials and letters on the subject. Not known for its liberal views on aid, it was amongst the most vocal in its criticism. The headline to a lead editorial, “The Pergau curse”, summed up its attitude. 1 The Daily Telegraph headlined: “Major and Thatcher may face ‘Floodgate’”. 2 The Independent led with an editorial entitled: “The whole dam scandal”. 3 Coverage came to a crescendo in February and March 1994 with the FAC hearings and the Malaysian boycott of British firms for public sector contracts. The Times called the Pergau dam project “a monstrous exception to the generally taut, targeted and well monitored British overseas aid programme”. 4 The story was widely covered in the tabloids as well as the broadsheets.
