UN Survey Queries Vietnamese About Corruption
Marianne Brown
| Hanoi
VOA - May 04, 2012
Many people in Vietnam
consider bribery to be a systemic problem. But a new survey by the United
Nations and the Vietnamese government aims to give ordinary citizens a means to
voice their experience with corruption so authorities can do something about it.
The survey, conducted by
the United Nations Development Program and the Vietnam Fatherland Front, comes
at a time of economic growth in Vietnam, prompting more people to demand better
services from the government, said UNDP policy advisor Jairo Acuna-Alfaro.
“The more educated
citizens are, the healthier they are, the more they expect in terms of quality
[like] better education, health and more competent public officials that deal
with their administrative procedures in a timely manner,” he said.
Many of those on at the
forefront of this change are farmers who have lost their land to development
projects.
Last week hundreds of farmers in Hung Yen province protested a plan to clear
land for a new satellite city. Le Hien Duc, an anti-corruption activist and
former member of staff for the country’s first president Ho Chi Minh, said
witnessed about 1,000 policemen use tear gas to disperse 3,000 farmers.
According to state-run media reports 20 people were arrested.
The incident came only a few months after a farmer in Hai Phong province used
guns and landmines to fend off authorities trying to evict him from his land.
Land disputes are of particular concern, said Alcuna-Alfaro.
“I think this is what we are seeing in terms of land," he said. "All the
problems that we have seen in the first few months of this year where citizens
are starting to raise their voices and complain to the government that perhaps
all these land dealings have not been favorable to them.”
Land use issues are an important part of the Provincial Governance and Public
Administration Performance Index, launched on Thursday.
Of the 13,500 people
interviewed for the survey, only nine percent of citizens who had property taken
by the government said they received compensation close to the market value. Two
out of five interviewed said it was necessary to bribe someone to get a land use
certificate.
Acuna-Alfaro said the results are important because anti-corruption efforts in
Vietnam are usually self-assessed, which means end-users rarely have a chance to
voice their thoughts.
“We are flipping the coin and providing a different type of data which might be
more objective and more representative of the citizens, the users of those
services, which need to be considered when discussing improvements in the
legislation and in the actual implementation of the different provincial level
strategies,” he said.
One-third of those interviewed said bribery was needed to receive medical care
and two out of five said bribes were necessary at schools.
In a country where the average monthly wage is only $150, the amount those
interviewed spent on bribes each year is staggering. On average, about $125 is
given in bribes to medical staff and $58 to teachers and schools.
The number is high, but not surprising, said Dang Ngoc Dinh, director of the
Vietnam Center for Community Support Development Studies. Dinh likens corruption
to traffic jams -- a problem that everyone knows is out there, but for which
there are no quick fixes.
The point of the survey is not to despair over low marks but to do something
about them. For that reason, said Dinh, a low score should not necessarily be
considered a bad thing. Rather, he said, it's an opportunity for authorities
compare scores and learn from each other so they can do better.
Alcuna-Alfaro said it is now up to provincial authorities to take action and
crack down on corruption.
With over 13,000 voices,
the evidence will be difficult to ignore.