At a teleconference in Hanoi on Wednesday, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung stressed that anti-corruption is one of the Government Inspectorate’s priorities this year.

>> Ex-leaders of Vinalines get death in $19 mln corruption case The agency should strengthen efforts in detecting corruption cases, focusing particularly on financial transactions in areas such as construction, land, State budget collection and public procurement, the PM said.

The leader urged the Government Inspectorate to coordinate closely with ministries and localities to handle 62 complaints and denunciations that remain unsettled so far. He also called for closer inspection of the performance of ministers and chairpersons of People’s Committees nationwide, mainly in management of land and capital construction investment, and implementation of national target programs.

Last year, the inspection sector carried out 8,921 administrative inspections nationwide, Government General Inspector Huynh Phong Tranh reported at the teleconference.  Inspectors detected the misuse of VND326.5 trillion ($15.4 billion) and 4,520 ha of land, recovering more than VND25 trillion and 3,653 hectares of land, and giving fines to more than 1,580 organizations and 2,675 individuals that committed administrative violations. The sector also transferred 72 cases and 75 individuals to investigation agencies, he said. However, in general, the efficiency of inspection work is still low and the settlement of disputes is slow, he admitted. In order to contribute to boosting the fight against corruption, the sector will carry out more inspections in the coming time and step up the handling of complaints and denunciations, he said.