PM Drives against Illegal Use of State Cars

In an unprecedented move to crack down on rampant misuse of public cars, Prime Minister Phan Van Khai last week ordered the press to print the license plate numbers of cars suspected of being illegally used by government officials.

The move comes in the wake of a number of reports in the local press about government officials using state cars to visit pagodas to pray during Tet and the first months of the year, a practice banned by the government.

Although Prime Minister Khai did not order the press to release any names, 40 license plate numbers were printed alongside the addresses of state agencies where the cars are registered, allowing citizens to easily determine where the violating cars originated.

Included on the list were cars from the Ministry of Transport, several provincial and district people's committees, the Ho Chi Minh City-based State Bank branch, the Ministry of Public Security and the Ministry of Defense.

Most senior officials at the offending entities denied they had misused the cars, with many blaming the problem on lower-ranking officials or the fact that they had sold the cars to private citizens without removing the license plates.

The vice chairman of the District I People's Committee in Ho Chi Minh City was quoted in Tuoi Tre (The Youth) newspaper as saying his committee had lent its car to lower-level officials for travel with their families.

The prime minister's move was hailed in the press as proof of the government's determination to minimize public waste and enforce the official code of ethics.

Khai asked authorities to harshly discipline the violators and continue to look for other offenders.

It is common for officials to use public cars for personal trips, including Tet visits to home villages, vacations with families and relatives, or visits to higher-level officials. Although the prime minister late last year reasserted the practice was banned, many officials are thought to be ignoring the rule.

Early this year, the press identified hundreds of state cars used by government officials lined up near the entrances of popular worship spots like Perfume Pagoda, Ba Chua Kho Temple and Ba Pagoda.

Misuse of public cars is just one of a host of problems that have garnered the ire of the government, including state budget waste, corruption and deterioration of the official code of ethics.

"Corruption, waste of public money and abuse of power is rampant. Such problems have not shown any signs of going away, but in fact are becoming more severe, resulting in negative economic, social and politic effects," said Dr Le Dang Doanh, former head of the Central Institute for Economic Management and now advisor to the Minister of Planning and Investment. Last year, coverage in the press reached a fever pitch with a series of reports about officials spending lavish amounts of money on public cars.

Topping the list was former Hanoi Mayor Hoang Van Nghien, who used a VND5 billion office car, an amount the press was quick to point out was equal to 3,000 buffaloes.

While the former mayor was busy riding around in his 3,000-buffalo luxury car, an artist sold some paintings so that he could give a buffalo as a gift to an Agent Orange victim, according to one article.

According to Minister of Finance Nguyen Sinh Hung, if all the public cars bought for more than the permitted spending allowance were confiscated, they would occupy a parking place equivalent to the sandbanks of the Red River on both sides.

Prime Minister Khai noted that instead of funding officials' weekend trips to pagodas, the money should be used to combat poverty or to solve public health problems like bird flu.

Vietnam Investment Review