Morale at ICAC is low, our bosses are unfair, say staff
In an anonymous letter, graft busters urge Legco to probe their complaints
A group of graft busters has urged the Legislative Council to investigate problems of low morale in ICAC ranks and alleged unfair treatment by management which they say has created a 'very terrifying' atmosphere.
The appeal was made to Legco's security panel as it was revealed that the Independent Commission Against Corruption had approved applications from two more senior investigators to be 'demoted' two grades and made assistant investigators. A month earlier, another five senior investigators earning up to $61,000 a month had made similar requests for 'voluntary' redeployment, which would see their monthly earnings slashed by up to $37,000.
However, an ICAC spokeswoman yesterday stressed that the seven officers volunteered for the new positions. The redeployments were not demotions, nor were they related to budget cuts since their original positions would be filled.
She said the ICAC needed to redeploy staff and increase the number of frontline investigators, including officers responsible for intelligence gathering and analysis, to cope with a rising caseload.
An anonymous letter recently sent from 'a group of disappointed and helpless investigators' to the chairman of the Legco security panel said it was 'absolutely untrue' that these officers willingly accepted the lower-ranked positions. The letter alleged that investigators of various ranks in the ICAC's operations department had been transferred, demoted or been denied new contracts in the past two years because they had made inappropriate decisions or had not met the management's standards.
'All in short, morale in the department is very low and the atmosphere is very terrifying. Thus the productivity and output will be adversely affected,' the letter said.
The letter, which was also sent to the media and to an ICAC advisory committee, further accused senior managers of protecting a chief investigator despite his 'serious misconduct', including a conviction for drink driving.
Legislator James To Kun-sun, chairman of the security panel, said he would look into the allegations. According to the ICAC, 11 contract staff of positions ranging from office assistant to chief investigator failed to have their contract renewed in the past three years.
An ICAC spokeswoman said factors such as performance and attitude would be considered when managers decided whether to renew contracts, in order to maintain the high standard of the agency's work.
ICAC Commissioner Raymond Wong Hung-chiu said on Tuesday that the best barometer of staff morale was their performance, pointing to last year's conviction rate of 85 per cent, the highest in recent years.
The ICAC spokeswoman confirmed that a chief investigator had been convicted of drink driving in 2001. He was fined, had his licence suspended and received a reprimand after an internal investigation.
The spokeswoman also dismissed other accusations against the officer in the letter.
