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EDITORIAL: Graft-fighters must be
- Subject: EDITORIAL: Graft-fighters must be
- From: suriya@xxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Tue, 10 Nov 1998 21:21:00
Subject: EDITORIAL: Graft-fighters must be given big sticks
Editorial & Opinion
EDITORIAL: Graft-fighters
must be given big sticks
The Cabinet will be asked today by the
Finance Ministry to approve the formation
of an independent budget-audit unit that will
work full-time in all ministries to check on
abuses and corruptions that are
widespread in the public administration
system. The ministers should seize this
opportunity to display their seriousness in
tackling graft by approving the proposal.
Such an audit unit would nevertheless be a
tip of the iceberg in the reform of the
bureaucracy, though it is a good start. Not
only it is long overdue, but its assessment
of each ministry's budgetary system should
be publicised for public scrutiny, and a
system of carrots and sticks should be
introduced to give more teeth to the
proposed unit.
Some ministers and probably most senior
civil servants will likely greet the proposal
with reservation. They may argue that there
already exists in each ministry an internal
audit unit. They should be reminded that the
existing system is a big joke since such
units are accountable to the ministerial
permanent secretary and the minister, both
of whom have good reasons to hide the
abuses rather than have them discovered.
Corruption and abuse are waiting to be
revealed everywhere. A recent study by a
group of Chulalongkorn University
economists found that corruption was
rampant in Thai public administration. The
Finance Ministry collects taxes from the
people only to find the money used
inefficiently or goes into the pockets of
officials, politicians and companies working
in concert.
The Finance Ministry proposal involves
forming the new independent audit units
with representatives from the Counter
Corruption Commission, the
Auditor-General's Office, the Budget
Bureau, the ministry itself and other experts.
But for fear that the proposal will be
rejected, the Finance Ministry is proposing
that the unit report to the permanent
secretary of each ministry. Yet each
member of the unit will also be reporting
back to the agencies they come from to
further tighten accountability.
And in the not-too-distant future the new
Constitution has stipulated that the CCC
and Auditor-General must be answerable
not to the government but to Parliament.
To further ensure the success of the
scheme, the Finance Ministry might
consider giving ''carrots and sticks'' to the
independent audit units. It would be a good
idea to get them to publish their results. An
even better idea would be, if possible, to
give the unit members better salaries or
rewards. It is almost certain that corrupt civil
servants will try to buy them off or threaten
them if abuses are discovered.
A system of rewards should also be set up
fro agencies or ministries that can prove on
the basis of the audit unit's assessment that
they have helped the state to save money
or can deliver services efficiently at low cost
per unit or within a short time. This system
is in place in Britain under the Citizen's
Charter scheme.
In short, the formation of the independent
audit units should be looked upon as a
mechanism to help with an overall reform of
the bureaucracy, on which the Chuan
government has not moved fast or seriously
enough. It is taking the government a long
time to realise that many of the country's ills
have to do with shortcomings and
deep-rooted problems in the public
administration system. The government
must also find a greater political will to act,
and bureaucratic reform and the fight
against corruption must be at the top of the
national agenda.
The Nation