Corrupt practices must be tackled through enforcement and prevention: ORC Chairman
2007-11-25
A proactive investigative strategy and timely preventive education should go hand in hand to effectively tackle long-standing corrupt practices, said Dr Andrew Chuang Siu-leung, Chairman of the Operations Review Committee (ORC).
In his interview by the ICAC Channel’s “ Zooming-in ” programme, Dr Chuang said the ORC, entrusted with the task to supervise the investigative work of the Commission, had scrutinized each and every ICAC case. It also advised the ICAC on continuous improvements to the work of its Operations Department.
Referring to the malpractices revealed in some recent cases, including illegal kick-back scams in the catering industry, Dr Chuang said a comprehensive strategy of law enforcement, prevention and education was mandatory to curbing customary malpractices i n some industries.
In recent years, the ICAC received an average of about 50 corruption reports concerning the catering industry each year. In the first nine months of this year, there were 68 such reports, representing a substantial rise compared with the same period last year.
In the past three years, the ICAC had prosecuted 32 persons including chefs, purchasing officers as well as food suppliers for bribery in relation to the placing orders of goods in hotels and restaurants. Among them, 30 were convicted with penalties up t o a jail sentence of 18 months.
To help the catering industry tighten system controls, the Corruption Prevention Department had produced a Best Practices Module to alert them to corruption-prone areas and recommend preventive measures.
In the past three years, the Community Relations Department had also organized over 60 corruption prevention talks, reaching over 2,000 practitioners in the catering industry.
Dr Chuang also noted that since civil service integrity was one of the critical factors contributing to Hong Kong’s success, the committee had zero tolerance to abuse of authority or dereliction of duty involving civil servants.
"Each year we refer over 100 cases of alleged misconduct to the Civil Service Bureau to consider whether any disciplinary actions are warranted, and the administration has speeded up the process in handling those cases in recent years," he said.
As a watchdog of the ICAC, Dr Chuang said ORC members were forthcoming in giving their views in an independent and open manner. Members were generally satisfied that ICAC officers had given sufficiently detailed information on individual cases and addressed issues of concerns that they had raised.
Dr Chuang suggested that ICAC officers could keep an even closer partnership with the public to sustain the fight against corruption.
In his interview by the ICAC Channel’s “ Zooming-in ” programme, Dr Chuang said the ORC, entrusted with the task to supervise the investigative work of the Commission, had scrutinized each and every ICAC case. It also advised the ICAC on continuous improvements to the work of its Operations Department.
Referring to the malpractices revealed in some recent cases, including illegal kick-back scams in the catering industry, Dr Chuang said a comprehensive strategy of law enforcement, prevention and education was mandatory to curbing customary malpractices i n some industries.
In recent years, the ICAC received an average of about 50 corruption reports concerning the catering industry each year. In the first nine months of this year, there were 68 such reports, representing a substantial rise compared with the same period last year.
In the past three years, the ICAC had prosecuted 32 persons including chefs, purchasing officers as well as food suppliers for bribery in relation to the placing orders of goods in hotels and restaurants. Among them, 30 were convicted with penalties up t o a jail sentence of 18 months.
To help the catering industry tighten system controls, the Corruption Prevention Department had produced a Best Practices Module to alert them to corruption-prone areas and recommend preventive measures.
In the past three years, the Community Relations Department had also organized over 60 corruption prevention talks, reaching over 2,000 practitioners in the catering industry.
Dr Chuang also noted that since civil service integrity was one of the critical factors contributing to Hong Kong’s success, the committee had zero tolerance to abuse of authority or dereliction of duty involving civil servants.
"Each year we refer over 100 cases of alleged misconduct to the Civil Service Bureau to consider whether any disciplinary actions are warranted, and the administration has speeded up the process in handling those cases in recent years," he said.
As a watchdog of the ICAC, Dr Chuang said ORC members were forthcoming in giving their views in an independent and open manner. Members were generally satisfied that ICAC officers had given sufficiently detailed information on individual cases and addressed issues of concerns that they had raised.
Dr Chuang suggested that ICAC officers could keep an even closer partnership with the public to sustain the fight against corruption.