Many localities in Vietnam are stepping up the fight against corruption, with whistle-blowers to be rewarded for coming forward with evidence of wrongdoing.
Ngo Quang Huong, head of the Kien Giang Province Committee of Internal Affairs, said April 8 new regulations are being issued on paying for information on corruption information.
Organisations, local people and foreigners can provide information to the committee if they discover any corrupted officials in the area. The committee will review and verify the accuracy of the information and reward whistle-blowers depending on the value of the provided information. The authorities pledge to keep the identity of informants secret.
Last year, many localities announced plans to pay for information about corruption, including in the provinces of Quang Ngai, Binh Thuan and Lam Dong. The local internal affairs committee will pay from VND500,000 to VND10m for valuable information.
In the past two years, Quang Ngai Province dealt with 113 officials and three agencies engaging in corrupt activities.
Nguyen Minh, secretary of the Quang Ngai Province, said the fight against corruption had improved greatly, but most of the cases handled in his province were small.
Chau Minh Son, head of Binh Thuan Province Internal Affairs Committee, said the act aims to encourage people and even officials to participate in the corruption fight.
"We hope to create an 'everyone fights against corruption' movement so we can reduce and prevent corruption in each agency," Son said.