HONG KONG: Addressing anti-corruption staff retention issues, the Panel on Security of the Legislative Council held a meeting yesterday that included discussion of the manpower situation in the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC).

At the meeting, Commissioner Against Corruption Timothy Tong Hin-ming provided current ICAC manpower statistics. ICAC had about 100 vacancies as of December 1, 2009, among which, the ranks of the Commission Against Corruption Officer (CACO) dominate the majority.

As Tong explained, the problems with retention can be attributed to two main reasons. First, the new recruits are remunerated on non-permanent contractual terms; second, CACO recruits have been lured by competitive packages offered by the private sector or other public bodies.

The ICAC witnessed a favorable trend in the staff turnover rate decrease from 9.3 percent in 2007 to 7.8 percent in 2008, with a further decrease to 4.9 percent in 2009. Even so, the ICAC is proposing to increase pay by two points on the pay scale of Assistant Commission Against Corruption Officer (ACACO) to retain staff.

After Tong's report, legislator Cheung Man-kwong confronted Tong's contract continuity as unfair and secret. Tong was nominated by the Chief Executive for appointment to the office of the commissioner on July 1, 2007, when Tong was a civil servant.

On July 1, 2009, the ICAC renewed Tong's appointment on contract terms after his retirement from civil service. No announcement was made by the ICAC regarding the change until the media discovered it months later.

Shirley Yung, acting director of administration of the Chief Secretary for Administration's Office, explained that there is no age restriction for the appointment of the Commissioner. Moreover, as Tong's appointment is to expire on June 31, 2012, it was not necessary to make the renewal terms public, Yung said.

Some legislators worried that having a former civil servant as commissioner might create conflicts of interest or otherwise affect dealings with civil servants or officials.

Tong believed that the concern was needless, as the ICAC is an independent department and is supervised by the Operation Review Commmittee.

Legislator Audrey Eu Yuet-mee suggested that if providing a notice or gazette would help allay public concern, the ICAC should consider doing so. Yung said the ICAC would take it into account when they encounter such a situation in the future.

(HK Edition 01/06/2010 page1)