Report: Firms See Judges as Most Corrupt
By Erik Wasson and Kay Kimsong
THE CAMBODIA DAILY
Businesses in Cambodia view the judiciary as the country's least honest public institution, followed by the tax and customs services, the health sector, the police, the central government and the education sector, according to a new report released Wednesday by the Economic Institute of Cambodia.
The report also says that businesses operating in Cambodia lost an estimated $330 million to corruption last year, and that the government may have lost $400 million in uncollected tax revenue.
The EIC, which based its report on a survey of 1,200 businesses, gave public institutions marks out of seven for their perceived honesty and integrity, with one indicating that the institution was not honest at all and seven indicating great honesty.
The courts scraped just 1.8 points, while tax and customs officials did marginally better with 1.9. The public health sector managed just 2.5 points, and the police at little better with 2.8. The central government received a rating of 3.1 points, as did the state education sector. The water and sewage services finished highest of the 10 candidates, with 4.5 points.
The survey, conducted in nine provinces and municipalities, found that small businesses on average pay 18 percent of their revenue to corrupt officials while large firms fork out over 4.1 percent.
"This amount…could be more than enough to raise the salaries of civil servants to a decent level of $100 to $150 per month," the EIC's executive summary of the report noted.
The EIC also estimated that because of unofficial payments being made to officials to avoid official taxes, the government is only able to collect 25 percent of its tax potential—causing a loss to the national budget of up to $400 million in 2005.
EIC Director Sok Hach said that while an average loss of 2.8 percent of revenues for all businesses to corrupt officials is high, it is lower than the 5 to 7 percent found in the last major corruption survey, conducted by the World Bank in 2004.
"One reason is this survey includes more data from the countryside and for sure there is less of a problem of corruption in the countryside than in Phnom Penh," Sok Hach said.
"Another reason is that Cambodian officials are richer so they have less need to demand unofficial fees," he said.
"When you ask [the Garment Manufacturers Association of Cambodia] and large firms, they say there is less corruption than there was."
But the results ultimately show the pressing need for the long-awaited anti-corruption law to be passed by the government, he said.
In June, the government again tailed to meet the latest in 12 years of deadlines to pass the law.
Cheam Yeap, National Assembly banking and finance commission chairman and CPP lawmaker, said the estimate of lost tax revenue could be as high as the EIC estimate.
"Because the EIC has been monitoring the Cambodian economy for a long time, we should consider it" he said.
"In every country we cannot say there is no corruption," he said.
"In terms of the tax collection, Prime Minister Hun Sen always informs and urges the Ministry of Finance to implement financial management to fight corruption. The government always asks donors to help them make the Anti-Corruption Law to international standards," he said.
Customs and Excise Department First Deputy Director Seng Sun Try declined comment on the poor rating of his officials.
Interior Ministry spokesman Khieu Sopheak said the police force in its entirety is not corrupt though he acknowledged that some individuals might be.
"If there is evidence that individual police are corrupt then they [should] bring their evidence and they should make a complaint. The Interior Ministry will investigate any accusation about corruption," he said.
"I think corruption is not such a big problem," he added.
National Assembly President Heng Samrin took issue with the Assembly's ranking on the honesty list.
"The National Assembly used the budget that is approved in the budget law to travel and organize meetings with people. The budget is limited. We are not involved in corruption at all," he said.
Minister of Justice Ang Vong Vathana said he was in China and declined comment but Phnom Penh Municipal Court Director Chiv Keng said the perceptions discussed in the report do not match with the reality of recent court reforms.
"Since I came here nine months ago, I have worked very hard to reform," he said.
"If you come here and investigate our judges and prosecutors, you will see that each of us has a small apartment and one car, not two or three villas," he said.
"Before maybe this report was true, but since I came here there was a lot of change," he maintained.
Ngeth Sarath, the court's deputy prosecutor, said the bleak assessment of the judiciary could have been provided by people who have fared poorly in lawsuits.
"I think the loser always make noise and tell everyone the court is corrupt," he said.
Bun Sok, undersecretary of state at the Ministry of Education, said he had not seen the report and declined immediate comment. Heng Taykry, secretary of state at the Ministry of Health, also declined comment.
Government spokesman and Information Minister Khieu Kanharith said he needed to read the report before commenting on the findings relating to the central government.
The report also says that businesses operating in Cambodia lost an estimated $330 million to corruption last year, and that the government may have lost $400 million in uncollected tax revenue.
The EIC, which based its report on a survey of 1,200 businesses, gave public institutions marks out of seven for their perceived honesty and integrity, with one indicating that the institution was not honest at all and seven indicating great honesty.
The courts scraped just 1.8 points, while tax and customs officials did marginally better with 1.9. The public health sector managed just 2.5 points, and the police at little better with 2.8. The central government received a rating of 3.1 points, as did the state education sector. The water and sewage services finished highest of the 10 candidates, with 4.5 points.
The survey, conducted in nine provinces and municipalities, found that small businesses on average pay 18 percent of their revenue to corrupt officials while large firms fork out over 4.1 percent.
"This amount…could be more than enough to raise the salaries of civil servants to a decent level of $100 to $150 per month," the EIC's executive summary of the report noted.
The EIC also estimated that because of unofficial payments being made to officials to avoid official taxes, the government is only able to collect 25 percent of its tax potential—causing a loss to the national budget of up to $400 million in 2005.
EIC Director Sok Hach said that while an average loss of 2.8 percent of revenues for all businesses to corrupt officials is high, it is lower than the 5 to 7 percent found in the last major corruption survey, conducted by the World Bank in 2004.
"One reason is this survey includes more data from the countryside and for sure there is less of a problem of corruption in the countryside than in Phnom Penh," Sok Hach said.
"Another reason is that Cambodian officials are richer so they have less need to demand unofficial fees," he said.
"When you ask [the Garment Manufacturers Association of Cambodia] and large firms, they say there is less corruption than there was."
But the results ultimately show the pressing need for the long-awaited anti-corruption law to be passed by the government, he said.
In June, the government again tailed to meet the latest in 12 years of deadlines to pass the law.
Cheam Yeap, National Assembly banking and finance commission chairman and CPP lawmaker, said the estimate of lost tax revenue could be as high as the EIC estimate.
"Because the EIC has been monitoring the Cambodian economy for a long time, we should consider it" he said.
"In every country we cannot say there is no corruption," he said.
"In terms of the tax collection, Prime Minister Hun Sen always informs and urges the Ministry of Finance to implement financial management to fight corruption. The government always asks donors to help them make the Anti-Corruption Law to international standards," he said.
Customs and Excise Department First Deputy Director Seng Sun Try declined comment on the poor rating of his officials.
Interior Ministry spokesman Khieu Sopheak said the police force in its entirety is not corrupt though he acknowledged that some individuals might be.
"If there is evidence that individual police are corrupt then they [should] bring their evidence and they should make a complaint. The Interior Ministry will investigate any accusation about corruption," he said.
"I think corruption is not such a big problem," he added.
National Assembly President Heng Samrin took issue with the Assembly's ranking on the honesty list.
"The National Assembly used the budget that is approved in the budget law to travel and organize meetings with people. The budget is limited. We are not involved in corruption at all," he said.
Minister of Justice Ang Vong Vathana said he was in China and declined comment but Phnom Penh Municipal Court Director Chiv Keng said the perceptions discussed in the report do not match with the reality of recent court reforms.
"Since I came here nine months ago, I have worked very hard to reform," he said.
"If you come here and investigate our judges and prosecutors, you will see that each of us has a small apartment and one car, not two or three villas," he said.
"Before maybe this report was true, but since I came here there was a lot of change," he maintained.
Ngeth Sarath, the court's deputy prosecutor, said the bleak assessment of the judiciary could have been provided by people who have fared poorly in lawsuits.
"I think the loser always make noise and tell everyone the court is corrupt," he said.
Bun Sok, undersecretary of state at the Ministry of Education, said he had not seen the report and declined immediate comment. Heng Taykry, secretary of state at the Ministry of Health, also declined comment.
Government spokesman and Information Minister Khieu Kanharith said he needed to read the report before commenting on the findings relating to the central government.
2 comments:
Talking about corruption? Cambodian Angkor Wat can be compared to the biggest oil well discovery in Cambodia right now. The last estimate was Angkor Wat bring tourists to Cambodia around $700 million dollars a year! With this amount of money, the Cambodian people live around Angkor Wat(Siem Reap) fail to benefit in anyway! Not to mention that Angkor Wat is crumbling from the stampede of the million and million of tourists every year.
I want to ask Sok Kong when will he donate just a small portion of the money back to the place that help him to become where he is now.
ony the poors..can say answer this questions ..the rest is hidden...
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