Laos announces measures to prevent ‘ghost’ projects
DECISIVE MEASURES have been worked out to prevent further so-called ghost projects following a report which revealed that many such projects had been uncovered, costing the state billions of kip.
Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Somdy Duangdy told a press conference last week that precautionary measures have been put in place to prevent ghost projects - schemes for which money has been budgeted and spent but do not actually exist.
“We have taken decisive measures which must be carried out in implementing state investment projects,” he told the press conference, which took place during the government’s monthly meeting for May at the Prime Minister’s Office.
The minister explained that authorities in charge from the Ministry of Planning and Investment, Ministry of Finance, their provincial departments and the entities owning the projects have intensified their coordination and carried out inspections into planned projects to ensure they really exist.
“The relevant authorities are required to inspect, certify and ensure that the projects have been implemented and made progress before money is disbursed for them,” he said.
A report from the Finance Ministry’s Inspection Department recently revealed that more than 785.8 billion kip was found to have been spent on 60 ghost projects in recent years.
Of the total, 29 such projects were discovered in Luang Namtha province, 26 projects were in Oudomxay province, three projects were in Xekong province, and two others were in Attapeu province. As of Aug 14, 2015, authorities in charge were able to recover just over 246.5 billion kip. However, the report did not say how many people were involved or had been held responsible for this misconduct.
Somdy said the Government Inspection Authority is working to address the reported ghost projects, which have been orchestrated over a number of years.
The 2015 report from the Inspection Committee of the Party Central Committee, and the Government Inspection Authority showed that almost 242 billion kip had been misused, with 95 officials involved. Those responsible were disciplined. With billions of kip having been reportedly lost to corruption, the new government headed by Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith announced a crackdown on corruption and fraud after taking office at the end of April.
