A majority of complaints received by the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABC) last year were against the police department and the Ministry of Public Administration and Home Affairs, the 2006 CIABC report said.
The Director General of the CIABC Piyasena Ranasinghe noted with disappointment the lack of agitation by the public against the rise in cases of bribery and corruption and also called on politicians to play their role in combating corruption.
“Society has to play a wider role to combat corruption,” Mr. Ranasingha told Daily Mirror.
According to the CIABC report the number of raids carried out by the Commission had increased to 233 in 2006 as compared to 143 in 2005 while it also notes that 89 were convicted, 16 cases postponed and a further 128 were exonerated.
Mr. Ranasinghe said that they receive 20-30 complaints per day and most of them were against the public servants.
“We cannot proceed in some of the cases because the sources are weak,” he said and added that even though the number of corruption cases increased they were working on the complaints.
“To combat corruption we need the support of the public, and especially from politicians,” he added.
The CIABC Director General said that this year too they have decided to carry out an awareness programme for the public as well as for the media on bribery and corruption while aid agencies have also commenced workshops in order to combat corruption.
