It’s necessary for business agents to prepare and educate themselves so they can avoid corruption. If they, however, cannot make plans and stay away from it [corruption], they will face actions taken by the public, according to Mon State Chief Minister Dr. Aye Zan’s statement at an anti-corruption workshop on Monday.
Chief Minister Dr. Aye Zan explained corruption, “For the projects that are permitted and mandated, sincere and honest people can apply. But several reasons are given to them, per the rules and regulations, and their applications are delayed permanently. But there are those who act as agents desperately working for business people who can give money.”
Because local people can’t offer much money, their applications are delayed, whereas the agents who work with business people receive money from those businesses to help them advocate for those businesses.
An anti-corruption workshop on the “responsibility for government and business” was held at the Mawlamyine State Hall in the Capital of Mon State on Monday, June 24, 2019. About 300 participants attended, including the chairperson and officials of the Anti-Corruption Commission, Mon State Chief Minister Dr. Aye Zan, government group members, officials from UNDP, Mon State Hluttaw Group members, the chief of justice and representatives from civil society organizations.
“It is awful for those who are committing [corruption] as they do not understand corruption [laws]. So, we can further understand corruption by holding events such as this. What we worry about is not understanding that we are committing [corruption],” said U Min Htin Aung Han, MP of Mon State Hluttaw.
MP U Min Htin Aung Han continued that actions must be taken against corruption, and the public must work toward reducing corruption by reporting corruption cases to respective departments.
The Union Government departments and State Government are implementing a policy to conduct a series of anti-corruption talks, workshops, and educational programs in 2018 and 2019. So far, five workshops have been held in Mon State.
Recently, several local CSOs in Mon State called for an investigation of the Chief Minister Dr. Aye Zan and his fellow minister for corruption. Chief Minister Dr. Aye Zan and his fellow minister have been accused of violating tender and finance rules and regulations for a one billion kyat road project.
