News
|
||||
Get
set to fight the menace that’s bribery and corruption, says
DG Mr. Somadasa was asked to hand over the bill to the school office and it had been duly included in the 'school development' accounts but all the items that were purchased had allegedly ended up at the building site of the Principal's new house. This story was related by Mr. Somadasa during an awareness seminar conducted by the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery and Corruption (CIABOC) in its attempt to educate and alert the public on the ways and means of mobilising themselves in fighting the scourge of bribery and corruption in the country. "The public should be aware how they can organize themselves in the fight against bribery and corruption. It is not the laws alone that will help us to fight this menace", Commission Director General Piyasena Ranasinghe said. He said if the people make a concerted effort to stand against bribery and corruption it would be much easier for the authorities to track down and crack down on the offenders. Welipitiya village is one among more than 110 locations where the Commission has held its awareness programmes on how best villagers could mobilise themselves in fighting Bribery and Corruption when bribes are demanded by any government official in the performance of his or her duty. More than 300 people including government officials from the AGA's office, principals and Grama Sevakas were present for the awareness programmes at which the Commission's Director General Piyasena Ranasinghe and Deputy Director General A. K. Chandrakantha outlined the methods of identifying bribery and corruption and the type of action that could be taken. The session turned out to be a forum and an opportunity for the public to come out with a range of problems, the obstacles they faced when making complaints against those who demand bribes and those involved in corruption. The public who were present at the seminar also exposed allegations against the local police. Commission's Deputy Director General A. K. Chandrakantha told The Sunday Times it was difficult to take action against school principals, as there were no complaints made against them. "When such a thing occurs, we normally ask them to declare their assets. We have the power to order any bank to issue a bank statement of any person against whom substantiated allegations are made and if such a person fails to give a reasonable account of how he or she came to hold such assets, then such persons would be taken to task. Normally it's easy to locate such people because many of those who make more money try to show off. So neighbours or colleagues out of jealousy or for some other reason begin to suspect them and point them out", he added. |
||||
Copyright © 2001 Wijeya Newspapers
Ltd. All rights reserved. |
