1) Explain this case study in simple words. 2) Explain conflict of interest in this case study briefly

3) At the end make conclusion from this case study

Statement of the Case: Engineer A is the only civil engineer in a small town in a remote area of Canada; the other engineers in the area are all mining engineers. Engineer A has a broad background, including sewer and water, roads, bridges, structural design, and building construction and inspection. His wife owns four commercial buildings in the downtown area. On a sunny day last summer, a major earthquake shook the town and caused widespread damage. Although there were no deaths, several people were injured, and several of the largest and oldest commercial buildings suffered significant cracking and settlement. Many buildings were built of unreinforced masonry, and a few had obvious cracks. Immediate structural inspection was essential before authorities could allow people to re-enter the buildings to live and work. The Town Administrator asked Engineer A to undertake a contract for immediate structural inspection of the damaged buildings. Engineer A declined. He explained that his wife owned four of the buildings requiring inspection, and it would be a clear conflict of interest if he were to inspect his wife's property. The Town Engineer asked whether Engineer A would skip her property and just inspect the buildings owned by others. Engineer A again declined, saying that if he condemned any of the buildings, he would still have a perceived conflict of interest , since his wife was in competition with other owners for tenants. Moreover, in this crisis he should assist his wife to rehabilitate her buildings and could not place her behind other owners in a similar situation. The Town Administrator stressed the emergency nature of the situation. He pointed out that outside help was unavailable because of poor road conditions and also because other engineers were busy, dealing with other communities that were similarly affected