Honest officials deserve support
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Three "chai yo" for Deputy Permanent Secretary for Finance Supa Phayajitti, who's got more guts than most of the men in the Cabinet combined. Not only that, she's got more credibility, because she heads the ministry team assessing the accounts of the rice
She says the losses incurred by the scheme through January 31 are Bt221 billion – and if we take figures for the first half of 2013 into account, the loss could be much higher. The losses are so high that she was abruptly transferred from the panel when the amount became known, and was only reinstated after intense public pressure to know the truth about what is being done with your money and mine.
Supa also said there is evidence of corruption at every step of the process, making a mockery of PM Yingluck and company’s reassurances that they would stress transparency.
Supa has “the rarest and most admirable quality of public life, moral courage”, to use Benjamin Disraeli’s phrase. As World War II Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery put it, “Moral courage [is being] not afraid to say or do what you believe to be right.”
You and I should do all in our power to not only protect but encourage such brave civil servants, for they put your interests and mine above those of their ministers.
Burin Kantabutra
Bangkok
