The Hon. (Dr.) Anil Jayantha - Minister of Labour and Deputy Minister of Finance and Planning

¶ 01 Hon. Presiding Member, today’s debate concerns the proposal to determine the remuneration and service conditions of officers and employees of the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC). This is fundamentally connected to our public mandate. CIABOC’s core task is to ensure the State is run free of bribery and corruption and to punish those who abuse public power—establishing good governance.

¶ 02 The people’s mandate to our NPP Government was clearly anti-corruption. Corruption crippled past administrations and hindered sustainable, inclusive growth for decades. Despite those challenges, by 2025 we stabilized the economy and secured growth, and we aim to take it beyond 7 percent.

¶ 03 Corruption breeds inequality and operates as a network. Investigations must be strong and technologically enabled—covering cases such as bank-related allegations, fertilizer imports, and cattle import issues. Often only one or two are convicted while broader networks remain hidden. Hence CIABOC must be institutionally strengthened—with resources, structure, and a robust legal framework. Our Government has already passed several laws to combat bribery, corruption, and malpractice, with more to come.

¶ 04 Modern corruption is technologically complex. We therefore need specialized officers with forensic audit, tech-enabled investigation, and prosecutorial skills. Standard public service pay structures are insufficient to recruit and retain such talent. Accordingly, we propose a revised remuneration structure, including senior posts—Additional Director General, Senior Deputy Director General, Senior Director, Deputy Director General, Director, Senior Assistant Director General, and Assistant Director General.

¶ 05 Recognizing parity issues with the Attorney General’s Department and the Legal Draftsman’s Department, we propose a special “anti-corruption risk allowance.” Earlier, due to timing, amendments under the 2023 No. 9 Anti-Corruption Act could not be effected; now we will enhance the earlier recommended anti-corruption risk allowance by more than 115 percent. Together with the Management Services Department and the Ministry of Finance, we have designed pay scales that ensure independence, dignity, and the ability to attract skilled personnel. We intend to further improve these scales over time.

¶ 06 To be clear, today’s supply constraints in fuel are not due to domestic fiscal or management failures, but external factors. We have the dollars; the issue is supply logistics. While we manage available stocks, we request prudent consumption. The Government will continue to manage this situation with minimal impact, ensuring the country’s oil resources are administered properly and collectively encouraging public cooperation.

¶ 07 Thank you.

¶ 08 Question put, and agreed to.