COMAC is not neglected
IN your editorial headlined, 'A matter of trust' (South China Morning Post, February 6), you referred to the recent increase in the workload of the Commissioner for Administrative Complaints (COMAC) and said that 'if the Governor is serious about public accountability, he should give priority to funding for the ombudsman' and that 'the Government should stop trying to sideline his office and facilitate his investigation'.
Your readers may be interested to know that the Government has in fact provided COMAC with considerable additional resources to help him deal with the increase in workload that followed the amendment of the COMAC Ordinance in June 1994.
As a result, the establishment of COMAC's office has increased from 26 posts, excluding the Commissioner himself, in 1993-94 to 55 posts in 1995-96, an increase of over 100 per cent in only two years.
In the 1996-97 financial year, we shall again provide additional resources to COMAC, including temporary staff to enable him to work off the current backlog of cases. Details of these additional resources will be announced with the publication of the draft Estimates for 1996-97 on March 1. The Government has also recognised the importance of COMAC's work in other ways. The Chief Secretary presented certificates of appointment to his panels of medical and legal advisers in June 1994. As Deputy to the Governor, she opened the 15th Australasian and Pacific Ombudsman Conference on October 27, 1995 and in the same week hosted a reception for the overseas ombudsmen attending Ombudsman Week. Since 1994, a government minute responding to the points raised in COMAC's annual report has been tabled in the Legislative Council.
The facts show that COMAC has been given priority in funding, and that the Government is not trying to sideline his office. As the Deputy to the Governor said in her speech on October 27, 1995, 'the ombudsman system is an integral part of an open and accountable Administration, and we are committed to ensuring that our ombudsman receives all the help that he requires to discharge his duties efficiently and effectively now and beyond 1997.' R.J.F. HOARE Director of Administration
