Proposal to handle violations according to regulations at the Southwest Steering Committee

Headquarters of the Association for the Support of the Poor in the Southwest. Photo: C. Quoc

DayOn January 12, Mr. Son Minh Thang - Deputy Head of the Standing Committee of the Southwest Steering Committee (recently assigned by the Politburo to hold the position of Secretary of the Party Committee of the Central Agencies) said that he, on behalf of the leaders of the Southwest Steering Committee, signed a document reporting to the Central Inspection Committee the results of the implementation of the conclusion on handling violations of cadres and recovering assets and finances at the Southwest Steering Committee that the Central Inspection Committee had previously concluded.

This report said that by the end of December 2017, the violators had returned over 14.4 billion VND through a temporary account opened at the Can Tho City Treasury; submitted a number of documents related to the settlement of the amount spent on making 30 episodes of the film "Land and People of the Western Region", equipment for the Southwest guesthouse... with a total amount of 3.4 billion VND.

The illegal expenditures include 11 billion VND of state budget and 51.9 billion VND of funding sources for the Southwest Steering Committee, which the Central Inspection Committee requested to be recovered for the state, but have not been implemented yet.

"The reason why the above amount has not been recovered is because the individuals involved have now retired or quit their jobs, making it difficult to check and review the documents. Even the documents related to the 3.4 billion VND payment for 30 episodes, guest house equipment... the Board's leaders have not been able to evaluate and appraise," said Mr. Thang.

Regarding the handling of violating cadres, the Standing Committee of the Southwest Steering Committee has disciplined Mr. Nguyen Van Ut with a warning and dismissed him from his position as Chief of Office of the Southwest Steering Committee (Mr. Ut was previously disciplined with a Party warning); forced Ms. Le Thi Thu Hang, Deputy Head of the Economic Department, former Chief Accountant of the Southwest Steering Committee to resign (Ms. Hang was previously disciplined with expulsion from the Party); and disciplined Ms. Son Thi Quanh Ni, Treasurer of the Steering Committee for the period 2011-2016, with a reprimand (Ms. Ni was previously reprimanded from the Party).

According to Mr. Thang, to ensure the complete handling of violations and recovery of illegal payments to the state, the leaders of the Southwest Steering Committee have officially requested the Central Inspection Committee to transfer the case file to the Southwest Steering Committee for competent authorities to handle according to legal regulations.

"The reason for such a recommendation is that the Southwest Steering Committee will end its operations in March 2018 and will no longer have time to handle violations and recover financial amounts for the state," said Mr. Thang.

Regarding the fate of the Association for Supporting Poor Patients in the Southwest, the source ofYouthsaid, although the Central Inspection Committee has recommended that the Central Secretariat request the Party Executive Committee of the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs to consider dissolving the Association for Supporting the Poor in the Southwest due to its establishment not being in accordance with regulations.

However, this Association still exists and Mr. Nguyen Phong Quang - former deputy head of the Southwest Steering Committee - has been disciplined by the Central Secretariat with a warning and removed from all positions in the Party, but continues to hold the position of executive chairman of this Association.