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| Saturday, 14 February 2004 |
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Minor amendment can revive Bribery Commission - Director General by Anura Maitipe A minor amendment to the existing laws could reactivate the Bribery Commission which will empower it to probe more than 300 complaints that involve politicians and government officials, Director General Commission of Bribery and Corruption, Piyasena Ranasinghe told the "Daily News". The non-appointment of a member had hindered the smooth functioning of the Commission. Therefore, it is of paramount importance that an amendment be moved so that the Commission could function even in the absence of a member. This is a very simple way to reactivate the Commission, the Director General pointed out. The procedure of the appointment of members to the Commission is clearly defined in the law. Therefore, members should be selected on that basis. The requirement for a 'marking system' for members is not envisage anywhere in the Act. It should not be taken into consideration in the process of appointing members. The application of a marking system has caused a hindrance to the smooth functioning of the Commission, he noted. The Director General pointed out that if the necessary amendment had been introduced at the appropriate time all complaints would have been probed by now. The lack of technical staff is a another major obstacle and there should be a proper procedure laid out for recruitment of staff. As an independent body the Commission should have authority to recruit staff on its own, he added. The commission employs 100 persons, most of whom are from the Police Department. They are only capable of handling non-technical cases and not matters involving violation of tender procedures, price evaluations and selection of bidders. However, most cases involve violation of tender procedures, technical evaluation of tenders and finalising of tenders. The Director General stressed the urgent need to recruit technically- oriented staff who could tackle complaints regarding the violation of tender procedures, auditing and evaluation of tenders in the field of civil construction, procurement of medical equipment, medicine, electrical, electronic and purchase of other consumer products. On Thursday, a group of SLFP members complained to the Bribery Commissioner against 14 Ministers and six officials who are facing allegations of bribery and corruption amounting to billions of rupees. |
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