Lack of investigators is hampering the work of The Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery and Corruption.
Sources said that the number of investigators available was insufficient to carry out investigations into the large number of complaints received by the commission. Currently the commission had about 100 officers but it had received more than 2,500 complaints of bribery during the period of May 2011 to January 2012.
Sources said since its reappointment in May 2011, the commission had made a total of 48 arrests on complaints on bribery and corruption. Investigations had been carried out into a number of complaints.
Despite the constraints, the number of arrests that had been made was higher than that of the earlier commission, sources said.
The chairman of the commission and former Supreme Court Judge Jagath Balapatabendi said he needed more personnel to expedite the commission’s work.
“Plans are afoot to expand the commission’s human resources and training capacity by August this year,” he said. Under this initiative nearly 100 more investigative officers would be recruited.
The commission was planning to identify key areas with a higher prevalence of bribery and corruption in its effort to crack down offenders, the Chairman said.
The commission would also carry out a series of awareness programmes with financial assistance from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in the Northern and Eastern provinces, he said.
The Island: