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| Sunday, 29 December 2002 |
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Bribery Commission : Bribery rampant among top public officials by DON ASOKA WIJEWARDENA The Commission to Investigate Bribery and Corruption reports that bribe-taking among high-ranking public officials is on the increase and urges public co-operation to eliminate this practice from the country.In the year 2001, the Commission received 94 complaints of bribe-taking by government officials and, of 94 cases, 45 raids conducted by the Commission were successful. In 2002, the Commission received 103 complaints and 45 raids were successful. Those who were found guilty were produced before courts and due sentences were meted out to the culprits, Director-General of the Commission to Investigate Bribery and Corruption, Piyasena Ranasinghe, said in an interview with the Sunday Observer. The Director-General said that the practice of bribe-taking had seen an upward trend, especially among public officials who enjoyed the plums of offices in the public sector. He added that the Commission's recent survey had revealed that bribe-takers had begun to demand more money from bus drivers, parents for admitting children to prestigious schools and from other persons who were unable to get things done on time due to poverty and insecurity. When asked about the role of the general public to nab bribe-takers, Mr. Ranasinghe stressed the importance of public co-operation and of providing accurate information of law-breakers to the Commission without fear and hesitation. "Some persons show deep reluctance to inform the Commission that some public officials demand money to get things done. They are not worried about money but they think that reporting and subsequent inquiries cause a lot of problems to them. Some persons come to us after giving money to officials. This is wrong. Whenever an official demands money from a person, he or she must inform us so that we can make arrangement to nab the official red-handed", Mr. Ranasinghe said. Regarding corruption,in 2002, the Commission has filed 19 cases in Magistrate's Courts and 56 cases to High Courts. The cases included misuse of State vehicles and properties. The Commission to Investigate Bribery and Corruption has enough reasons to believe that bribery and corruption tend to be widespread problems and urges the general public to provide information on bribe-takers irrespective of his or her position without sending anonymous petitions to the Commission. |
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