Deputy Prime Minister Trương Hòa Bình delivers a speech at the conference. VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — Deputy Prime Minister Trương Hòa Bình has urged the Government Inspectorate to continue to settle public complaints and denunciations, especially complicated prolonged cases in order to ensure social order and security.

Bình attended a conference on Thursday to review the sector’s performance in the first half of this year and set out plans for the second half.

According to the Government Inspectorate’s report, in the first six months, the sector discovered violations on more than 1,000ha of land and nearly VNĐ50.34 trillion (US$2.2 billion).

The Government Inspectorate proposed retrieving 142ha of land and VNĐ34.5 trillion for the State budget, and handing over 44 cases and 73 defendants to the police.

Anti-corruption work still faces shortcomings, including corruption cases involving the extortion of businesses and hassling of people. Violations and corruption cases involving law enforcement agencies have raised public concern. In many cases, officials who conduct investigations committed violations, affecting the sector’s prestige, the report revealed.

Bình pointed out several other shortcomings of the sector including slow implementation of investigation plans, low efficiency of public reception and settlement of public complaints and denunciations.

He asked the Government Inspectorate, inspectorate agencies of various sectors and local levels to conduct planned and unscheduled inspections, focusing on key issues and submit the 2020 investigation plan to the Prime Minister for approval.

Deputy Prime Minister Bình urged the agency to take comprehensive measures to fight corruption. The corruption investigation outcomes must reflect the facts in an accurate and objective way.

State Audit

Politburo member and permanent member of the Party Central Committee’s Secretariat Trần Quốc Vượng urged the State Audit of Việt Nam (SAV) to continue to improve their quality and take an active role in the fight against corruption and wastefulness.

Vượng had a working session with the agency on Thursday on the management and use of public property.

The SAV is an independent agency which operates under a special mechanism, so its reports must be accurate and effective, contributing to uncovering corruption and wastefulness and building a strong and clean Party, he said.

Vượng praised the SAV for the improvement of its auditing activities, helping manage State budget collection, public spending, public property use and retrieve huge sums of money for the State budget.

The SAV is a trusted agency that helps the National Assembly make the right decisions on State budget allocation. Auditing activities are the foundation for the Government to manage the macro-economy and improve the efficiency of anti-corruption work and the fight against wastefulness, he said.

“If the SAV continues to maintain its good performance, it will help improve national economic potential,” Vượng said.

According to SAV deputy head Nguyễn Quang Thành, in the first half of this year, the SAV proposed more than VNĐ37.5 trillion of financial fines, increasing 65 per cent compared to the same period last year, helping add more than VNĐ19.1 trillion to State budget.

The agency transferred two criminal cases to police for further investigation.

Last year, the agency proposed nearly VNĐ92.5 trillion of financial penalties, the highest in its 25 year-history. It has proposed to make amendments to, replace and cancel 160 legal documents, transferred five cases on suspicion of criminal offence to investigators, and provided 146 documents to State agencies for investigation, inspection and supervision.

Inspections at State-owned enterprises after privatisation during 2011-17 discovered various violations in the use and management of land. The SAV proposed financial fines of more than VNĐ1.3 trillion and retrieved more than 7.5 million square metres of land. — VNS