XN000022-1974-10-16 — Page 34

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 16, 1974

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ICAC GAINING STRONGER PUBLIC SUPPORT

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THE PUBLIC HAS RESPONDED WELL TO THE INDEPENDENT COMMISSION AGAINST CORRUPTION WITH REPORTS MADE TO IT RISING BY SOME 300 PER CENT AS COMPARED WITH A SIMILAR PERIOD LAST YEAR.

THE TREND WAS WELCOMED BY THE GOVERNOR, SIR MURRAY MACLEHOSE, TODAY WHEN HE REAFFIRMED THE GOVERNMENT'S DETERMINATION TO ROOT OUT CORRUPTION IN HONG KONG.

HE STRESSED, HOWEVER, THAT.THERE COULD BE NO REAL VICTORY' IN DEALING WITH THE PROBLEM UNLESS THERE ARE CHANGES OF ATTITUDE THROUGHOUT THE COMMUNITY GENERALLY. +THOUGH THIS WILL TAKE TIME. WE ARE TOTALLY COMMITTED,+ HE SAID.

REVIEWING THE WORK OF THE ICAC IN HIS OPENING ADDRESS TO THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL, THE GOVERNOR NOTED THAT THE OPERATIONS DEPARTMENT OF THE COMMISSION - ITS INVESTIGATORY ARM HAD MADE A CONSIDERABLE IMPACT.

+ABOUT 80 PROSECUTIONS FOR CORRUPTION AND KINDRED OFFENCES HAVE BEEN LAUNCHED AGAINST A WIDE VARIETY OF GOVERNMENT SERVANTS AND MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC, AND THIS IS DOUBLE WHAT WAS DONE IN THE SAME PERIOD LAST YEAR,+ HE SAID.

IN CONSIDERING THIS PERIOD, THE GOVERNOR WENT ON, IT WAS NECESSARY TO REMEMBER THAT SOME 80 PER CENT OF THE OPERATIONS DEPARTMENT HAD A CIVILIAN BACKGROUND.

+ INEVITABLY, THIS HAS MEANT A TREMENDOUS EFFORT IN TERMS OF TRAINING STAFF IN THEIR ENTIRELY NEW ROLE,+ HE SAID. +THESE ENTHUSIASTIC NEWCOMERS ARE AN IMPRESSIVE, WELL-EDUCATED GROUP DILECTED BY EXPERIENCED INVESTIGATORS, AND UNDER THE OVERALL DIRECTION OF MR. JOHN PRENDERGAST, ONE OF THE MOST SUCCESSFUL POLICEMEN IN THE COMMONWEALTH.+

SIR MURRAY FELT THAT BUILDING UP THE INITIAL MOMENTUM OF THE FIGHT AGAINST CORRUPTION WOULD DEPEND LARGELY ON THE SUCCESS OF THE OPERATIONS DEPARTMENT.

+IT IS INESCAPABLE THAT TO MAKE PROGRESS, TO DETER THE CORRUPT AND TO SECURE PUBLIC CONFIDENCE, A SATISFACTORY VOLUME OF DETECTION AND PUNISHMENT IS ESSENTIAL,+ HE NOTED.

BUT, HE WENT ON, ONCE IT HAD BECOME APPARENT TO THE CORRUPT AND TO THE PUBLIC THAT CORRUPTION DID NOT PAY, THE CORRUPTION PREVENTION AND COMMUNITY RELATIONS SIDES OF THE COMMISSION WOULD BE ABLE TO PLAY VITALLY IMPORTANT PARTS. THESE TWO DEPARTMENTS ARE NOW BEING SET UP AND WILL SOON BE AT WORK..

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HE SAID, +AS SOON AS THIS STAFF ARE IN POSITION, TWO ADVISORY COMMITTEES ON CORRUPTION PREVENTION AND COMMUNITY RELATIONS WILL BE ESTABLISHED, TOGETHER WITH A SMALL HIGH-POWERED SUPERVISORY COMMITTEE TO ADVISE THE COMMISSIOKER AND MYSELF ON MAJOR POLICY ASPECTS OF THE COMMISSION'S WORK.+

SIR MURRAY ASSURED THE COMMISSION OF THE GOVERNMENT'S TOTAL SUPPORT, BUT SAID THAT IN THE LONG RUN, ITS EEST ALLY WOULD BE + THE GOOD SENSE OF THE PEOPLE OF HONG KONG AND THE SINCERITY OF THEIR DEMAND THAT THE TIME FOR NEW STANDARDS HAS COME.+

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