VietNamNet Bridge – The Government Inspectorate found many violations with over VND92.7 trillion (US$4.15 billion) and 14,266 hectares of land involved after it conducted 200,000 inspections last year.

Illustrative image -- Photo viettimes.vn

Government Inspector General Phan Van Sau mentioned the figures in a report on corruption control in 2016 while speaking before the National Assembly (NA) Standing Committee in Hanoi on September 21.

In addition, Sau said the inspectorate suggested the Government take back VND19.3 trillion and 6,508 hectares of land in connection with violations, with nearly VND9.53 trillion and 739 hectares withdrawn.

The inspectorate suggested competent agencies to look into and deal with the wrong use of VND73.4 trillion and more than 7,000 hectares of land, as well as discipline many organizations and individuals.

The report, which Sau presented to the committee on behalf of the Government, showed there were over one million asset declarations made by Government officials and civil servants last year with nearly 993,130 of them undoubted.

However, Sau acknowledged that corruption is still complicated and occurs at many levels, in many industries and areas while the effort of the Government to fight corruption in general has not met expectations.

Inconsistent rules and policies on economic management, a lack of transparency, and red tape are fertile ground for corruption, especially in land management, construction investment, and State capital and asset management.

This year, corruption cases have caused losses of more than VND240 billion and 838 square meters of land. Of the total, Government agencies have got back VND92.46 billion.

The General Department of Civil Judgment Execution under the Ministry of Justice has handled 65 new corruption cases involving VND646.6 billion, and settled 41 cases of the total, taking back VND45.6 billion.

Appraising the Government’s report on anti-corruption, the NA’s head of the Legal Department Le Thi Nga said the number of corruption cases detected and brought to court has fallen though the Government said corruption is still prevalent in many areas.

Nga said corruption cases uncovered in the past three years have been small, mainly at commune-level agencies, while the number reported at provincial and district agencies and ministries is insignificant although corruption in these entities, according to public opinion, is still a major concern.    

Leaders have not taken responsibility for corruption cases found at their agencies and organizations in line with the existing regulations. In the year to date, 18 leaders of agencies and units have got sanctions as corruption has been detected at their agencies and organization, with criminal charges filed against five of them. The respective numbers last year were 46 and four.

The Legal Department said to prevent corruption effectively, the Government should improve institutions in this field and do away with unclear regulations. The Government should eliminate officials and civil servants who are found involved in corruption.

SGT