How serious is the govt about fighting corruption?
The government has put its anti-corruption strategy - listed as one of its 16 urgent policies and officially launched on May 18 - on the national agenda. Under this strategy, the government has assigned all agencies to "clean their own houses" with the mo
However, the main question now is how such agencies and provincial authorities can cooperate with the government in the anti-graft scheme and how the government itself will follow up on the policy’s implementation.
Four months after the project’s launch, at least three agencies have not yet completed their respective action plans. They are the Customs Department, the Office of the Permanent Secretary of the Sport and Tourism Ministry, and the Office of the Vocational Education Commission.
The latter two agencies, in particular, have even ignored recommendations from the government’s committee to show their plans.
Nivatthamrong Boonsongpaisal, PM’s Office minister in charge of the anti-corruption strategy, expected he would receive detailed action plans from all agencies by the end of this month. He said progress on the projects was to be reported to the government via two channels: a committee of prominent persons every three months, and monthly online reports. The government would collect the information from all agencies to know how they were tackling the corruption problem and how to prevent it, he said. The entire project would be completed by the middle of next year.
The anti-corruption scheme would later expand to cover state-run enterprises and other public organisations as well as local administrative bodies, where corruption was widespread, he said.
Corruption cases could be reported to the government through two channels: direct phone line 1206 and the website stopcorruption.go.th. There have been 156 allegations and 84 tips on suspected corruption cases via the hotline, and 10 allegations and 20 tips reported via the website. Most allegations were of corruption in construction projects, abuse of power by officials, and corruption among government-funded projects.
However, many feel this anti-corruption drive might be simply a ploy for political popularity as the government seldom enforces any action against suspected corruption cases reported to the government-sponsored projects.
The rice-pledging scheme to subsidise paddy growers, for example, was widely talked about as involving corruption among people close to the ruling Pheu Thai Party. The government spent more than Bt300 billion to subsidise paddy growers in the last crop and will shell out more than Bt450 billion for the next crop. The programme has many loopholes to allow the involvement of corrupt officials and rice traders, critics say.
The Bt350-billion flood prevention project was said to be the most corrupt of all. Mongkolkrit Suksintharanont of the anti-corruption alliance said more than Bt250 billion of the project’s budget had already been swallowed by influential persons, leaving only Bt100 billion to run the project.
It was widely reported that the chief of the Office of the Public Sector Anti-Corruption Commission, Dusadee Arayawuth, had been sacked after discovering corruption in the flood disaster compensation budget.
These were only some of the many mega-projects the government has launched in implementing its policies. Many provide opportunities and loopholes for officials and politicians to abuse their power. Let us now see how the government reacts to corruption in these projects, and how it can make its promised anti-corruption strategy come true.
