The Myanmar authorities have punished 42 more service personnel in the Road Transport Department for a number of misconducts committed taking the facilities of their work status, according to a latest disclosure of the department.

The 42 government servants, who were taken action by the authorities, include nine officers and 33 staff in the department, the sources said.

They were punished for being personally involved in illegally asking for extra money from people who came for applying transport business licenses and matters involved with money in managing motor vehicles without licenses and legalization of expired vehicles, the sources said.

The offenders were given such punishments as warning, cutting down of yearly increment of salaries and pending of providing such benefits in the future, the sources added.

According to an earlier official report, 20 other civil servants in the Myanmar Railways had been taken actions including imprisonment, cross-state transfer of job and lowering the work status for various malpractice including sale of black market train tickets, overcharge of luggage consignment, asking for more money than designated for train tickets, abuse of power, causing loss of passengers' personal identification documents and dealing rudely with the passengers.

These actions were recently taken by the authorities in response to public complaints invited by government ministries since late last year in a drive to ensure a clean administrative machinery.

The ministries, in their respective earlier statements, stated that if any service personnel of any rank of the ministries commit malpractice involving money, property and opportunity and oppress the people in administrative and economic affairs, making improper use of the rights which are not in conformity with the existing laws and procedures, those who suffer personally can complain to the minister, deputy minister and director-general, giving the fax and phone numbers and e-mail address of the ministries' offices in the new administrative capital of Nay Pyi Taw.

Investigations are to be made by respective ministries' special inspection teams upon true complaints, the statement said.

Ministries, which have invited such public complaints, include those of home affairs, energy, finance and revenue, transport ( rail and road) and forestry as well as the Yangon City Development Committee.

Source: Xinhua