Chapter 10
Epilogue
The ICAC have developed corruption prevention guides and training packages, including the "Best Practice Checklist on Letting and Administration of Works Contracts" and the "Corruption Prevention Guide on Works Supervision", for construction professionals and practitioners. These resources aim to suggest measures to plug corruption loopholes, strengthen stakeholders’ knowledge of the anti-corruption laws and hence help maintain a high standard of integrity in the construction industry. Construction practitioners may also refer to the "Integrity and Corruption Prevention Guide on Managing Relationship with Public Servants" for red flags against corruption risks.
Other user-friendly resources including "Pamphlet for Civil Servants (in Chinese only)" and "Ethical Leadership in Action : Handbook for Senior Managers in the Civil Service" were also developed. These resources contained essence of the anti-bribery legislations, and reminded government officers to raise alertness to corruption, conflict of interest and integrity issues. On a regular basis, the ICAC organises integrity training for new recruits and serving government officers, and encourages the adoption of training cycles in the comprehensive integrity training programmes of departments. Furthermore, continued efforts will be made to promote the "Integrity Management e-learning Platform for Civil Servants" to reinforce probity culture in civil service.
There was only flimsy information at the outset. Only a handful of possible leads could be pursued, but the two defendants were subsequently found to have frequent contact and interaction. "Catching an offender red handed in a corruption case is never easy. In this case, evidence was found at the scene, and we have much support from the Government Laboratory that run forensic analysis on the evidence with encouraging results. We were indeed thrilled to pieces at the successful prosecution." The case took three years from arrest to prosecution and conviction. It was one of the corruption cases that the ICAC relied on DNA evidence to convict the guilty.
Hopefully, stakeholders of the construction industry will learn a lesson from the sentences which reflected the dire consequences of committing bribery offence. May it be a general sweetener to maintain a good relationship or a reward for a specific act, offering a bribe to induce a public servant to show favour in relation to his duties constitutes a breach of offence under the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance.