Corruption rises among HK govt officials

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Central Government, Tax and Revenue Management

By Robin Hicks | 2 February 2010

Corruption among government officials in Hong Kong rose considerably during the global financial crisis, although not by as much as was expected, the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) has told FutureGov. Corruption complaints made against government departments jumped by 11 per cent in 2009, but the number of pursuable cases rose by just four per cent, according to ICAC figures.

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“Unlike the Asian financial turmoil in 1998, the recent financial crisis did not generate a dramatic increase in the number of corruption reports in 2009,” an ICAC spokesperson told FutureGov. She added that the Commission’s use of technology has helped prevent and identify abuses of government systems as corruption methods become more complex.

Government departments made up 31 per cent of a total of 3450 complaints last year; six per cent came from other public sector bodies, while 63 per cent were made against the private sector. Departments that received the most graft reports were the Hong Kong Police Force and the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department, which saw complaints increase by 13 per cent and 23 per cent year on year, respectively.

Operations Review Committee (ORC) Chairman Michael Sze Cho-cheung (pictured) noted that the civil service remained “clean” and there was no sign of a revival of syndicated corruption. The number of civil servants considered for disciplinary or administrative action in 2009 fell from 105 to 66.

However, Sze voiced concern over inadequate guidelines and supervision for some government funding schemes and outsourcing projects. “Operation Building Bright”, an initiative run by the Hong Kong Housing Authority and the Urban Renewal Authority to provide grants and technical assistance for select building projects, was identified as a potential magnet for corruption.

Prevention and education programmes, heightened public awareness and the effectiveness of the ICAC’s Computer Forensics Section were singled out as the most effective anti-corruption measures during the recent economic downturn. “The ICAC has been sharpening its edge using technology to cope with the increasingly sophisticated and complex corruption crimes,” the ICAC spokesperson noted.

Officers in the Computer Forensic Section received training from the International Association of Computer Investigative Specialists, and the Section has increased operations and investigative data analyses, she added.

“The ICAC has worked with the Civil Service Bureau to establish a network of ethics officers to promote integrity and consolidate a clean culture across the civil service. Most governments departments have set up Corruption Prevention Group with ICAC representatives to explore work procedures to plug corruption loopholes.”

Hong Kong ranks 12th in the Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), which measures perceived levels of public sector corruption. The territory has improved its position by five places since 1995, when the table was first introduced.

The Malaysian government has set its sights on climbing the CPI too. The Government Transformation Programme (GTP) launched last month aims to reduce corruption by being tougher on the disclosure of procurement procedures for e-government projects, and finding ways to stop the procurement process being abused or dodged altogether.

Malaysia has seen its position in the CPI fall to 56 in 2009 from 23 in 1995, and a lack of stringent compliance monitoring and consequence management has been blamed for rising corruption in the public sector.

The Malaysian government identified three key corruption-prone areas: regulatory and enforcement agencies, government procurement and political corruption. The agencies most prone were the police, customs department, immigration department and road transportation department, which ranked as having the lowest perceived integrity in the Merdeka Center Malaysian Transparency Perception Survey.

Corruption could cost Malaysia as much as RM10 billion a year, or one-two per cent of GDP, according to the special government taskforce to facilitate business, Pemudah.

Meanwhile, the Hanoi Prosecution Office has proposed a jail term for a former deputy minister for the government of Vietnam for taking kickbacks from a failed e-government project. Vu Dinh Thuan, former head of the Government Office and also head of Project 112, a project that attempted to computerise the country’s administrative system, could face eight years in prison for abuse of power.