Just before this BBC podcast gets underway, here's something you may not know.

My name's Linda Davies and I Commission Podcasts for BBC Sounds.

As you'd expect, at the BBC we make podcasts of the very highest quality featuring the most knowledgeable experts and genuinely engaging voices.

What you may not know is that the BBC makes podcasts about all kinds of things like pop stars,

poltergeist, cricket, and conspiracy theories and that's just a few examples.

If you'd like to discover something a little bit unexpected, find your next podcast over at BBC Sounds.

You're listening to the Witness History Podcast from the BBC World Service with me, Tim Mansell.

Today we're going back to October 1993 and the

publication of a report that led to the biggest development aid scandal in British

history. This is the aid and arms deal that became known as the

Pergau Dam affair. A report from the National Audit Office, Parliament's

financial watchdog has accused the Foreign Secretary Douglas

heard of wasting 56 million pounds of public money on British aid for a

Malaysian power station. The report reveals that a senior civil servant at the Overseas Development Agency

analysed the project and concluded it was a very bad buy.

I'm Tim Lancaster.

I was the Permanent Secretary of the overseas development administration which at the time

was responsible for British aid.

Now we've just heard that BBC report that says a senior civil servant described this as a bad buy.

That was the BBC's words.

Was that you?

That was me.

...