Cabinet directive to police ignored

About 80 vacancies in CIABOC probe arm

The police headquarters has failed to fill the vacancies in the Investigation Unit assigned to the Permanent Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC), despite a directive given by the Cabinet-of-Ministers,

The Island

learns that the CIABOC has repeatedly made representations to the government in this regard.

Of the required strength of 275 officers and men, the unit is short of 80 personnel.

Sources said that the CIABOC was struggling to cope up with the workload, for want of sufficient strength. They pointed out that though the Parliament had been repeatedly told of measures taken to tackle corruption, the main investigation unit remained handicapped, for want of adequate personnel, for about two years.

Police headquarters and CIABOC haven’t been able to reach a consensus on transfer of qualified persons from specialized units to the independent commission, sources said.

CIABOC picks investigators after having called for applications from serving police officers. (SF)