By Vong Sokheng and Bridget Di Certo
Wednesday, 09 May 2012
Phnom Penh Post
Chhay
Savuth, acting president of the Anti-Corruption Unit, speaks during a
press conference in Phnom Penh yesterday Photograph: Heng Chivoan/Phnom
Penh Post
The Anti-Corruption Unit has set its sights on illegal fees paid at the
commune level and intends to stamp out a decades-old culture of bribery
within the next four months, ACU officials announced yesterday.
At
a press conference, acting ACU president Chhay Savuth said that 22
ministries would be involved in the new initiative that would examine
2,000 services offered at the commune and sangkat level.
“The Ministry of Economics and Finance
will set up a scheduled fee for each type of public service,” Chhay
Savuth said. “We have already started to work on these issues and expect
to complete our work within three or four months.”
He stressed
that under the Penal Code, there were severe prison sentences for
government officials or individuals involved in bribery.
“The
culture of bribery has been in place for over 20 years, and now we have
to illuminate a bad culture and change it to a good culture, and we will
take legal action against any government official who continues to take
bribes,” he added.
One of the first targets of the ACU after its
formation in late 2010 was facilitation fees – a bribe paid to a
government official to receive a public service such as road repairs or
company registrations.
Chhay Savuth said the ACU was also
appealing to individual NGOs, political parties, and associations who
wish to fight bribery at the commune level to sign a Memorandum of
Understanding with the ACU to monitor bribery in a commune of their
choice.
He called for NGOs and political parties to apply with the ACU for an MoU between May and October this year.
“The
NGO and political party will need to employ their own human resources
and budget to facilitate services for the people and monitor illegal fee
paying within their commune,” he explained.
Transparency International Cambodia Executive Director Kol Preap welcomed the ACU’s move to work with civil society.
“NGOs
will complement the role of the authorities and hold the authorities
accountable, but the legitimate power and those who can implement
regulations will be the government and the authorities,” Kol Preap said.
TI has called corruption in Cambodia “systemic”.
“People become
part of the problem when they proactively pay bribes without being
asked. This is what is meant by systemic,” Kol Preap said. “This is one
of the main issues – people don’t realize that exchanging an envelope
for a service is part of corruption.”
Opposition lawmaker Mu
Sochua of the Sam Rainsy Party said the government had lagged behind in
identifying commune-level corruption as an important issue in the
Kingdom.
“Corruption at the local level as been a huge problem
for the poor for a long time,” Mu Sochua said, adding it was one of the
core issues the SRP party intended to tackle.
“I hope it is the
same for them, but we are 27 days away from an election right now,” Mu
Sochua said. “I am a bit afraid that this is about the campaign and not
addressing something that is rotten at the core.”
To contact the reporters on this story: Vong Sokheng at sokheng.vong@phnompenhpost.com
Bridget Di Certo at bridget.dicerto@phnompenhpost.com
1 comment:
Who is this guy? Never heard of him and his name? CPP dog?
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