Graft in utilities, regulatory authorities, select depts ACC steps up drives [ Tritiyo Matra News ]

Graft in utilities, regulatory authorities, select depts ACC steps up drives

Local January 19, 2017

The Anti-Corruption Commission has decided to intensify its drives against corruption in public utilities, regulatory authorities and government offices which deny service to public unless bribed.
Under the initiative ACC on Wednesday formed 14 dedicated teams to hunt corruption in 15 organizations, which include utilities, regulatory authorities as well as select government departments.
The teams would be empowered to recommend action against the agencies for their questionable activities, ACC secretary Abu M Mustafa Kamal told New Age.
He said that anti corruption drives would be intensified against Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution Company, the Railway Division, Bangladesh Civil Aviation Authority, Biman Bangladesh Airlines, Customs, Excise and VAT Commissionerate, Income Tax Office, WASA, , Department of Narcotics Control, the Roads and Highways Department, Bangladesh Road Transport Corporation, Sub-registrars offices in Dhaka district, Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority, Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Corporation, Public Works Department and Auditor General’s Office.
He said that each three-member team to be led by an ACC director would be assigned to find out the sources as well as the reasons of corruption in these agencies.
He, however, said that a few directors might be assigned to head more than one teams as the ACC had only 12 directors.
He said that the teams would be required to submit reports containing recommendations for curbing corruption.
The teams had been asked to suggest the use of information technology for curbing systematic corruption by scotching loopholes, he said.
In future, he said, the ACC would form more teams to curb corruption in other offices.
There has been an unprecedented increased in corruption in the utilities and government offices for which none gets service without bribing, said former ACC chairman and Consumer Association of Bangladesh president Gholam Rahman.
He said that the public wanted relief from the pervasive culture of bribes.
Gholam Rahman said that the ACC lacked skilled officers who could find out systemic and legal loopholes facilitating corruption in government departments and offices.
He advised the ACC to form taskforces comprising skilled officers in different departments.
Praising the ACC for its latest move, Transparency International Bangladesh executive director Iftekharuzzaman said previous negative experience make people skeptical about what could happen.
He said that the ACC should have a well defined policy so that its anti corruption drives did not hamper normal activities of government departments, offices and the utilities.
ACC secretary said that internal surveillance would be increased against the officers in the 14 probe teams.
In August 2015, the ACC withdrew 10 special teams following complaints that they committed irregularities while probing corruption allegations against Rajuk, the capital’s two city corporations and several government offices.
At that time, the then ACC chairman M Badiuzzamn had admitted that no action could taken against the officers in the controversial teams as none lodged specific complaints against them.
In 2012, 11 probe teams were assigned to investigate allegations of corruption and irregularities against the National Board of Revenue, Rajuk, Directorate General of Health Services, Education Engineering Department, the undivided Dhaka City Corporation, RHD, Local Government Engineering Department, BRTA, PWD, Bangladesh Government Employees’ Welfare Board and Bangladesh Petroliam Corporation.
In 2014, ACC withdrew a team that was assigned to probe allegations of corruption against the Bangladesh Petroliam Corporation for its poor performance leaving 10 probe teams in the field.
Each team was led by an ACC deputy director.