Saturday, 19 February 2011

Teachers file ACU complaint over graft


via CAAI

Friday, 18 February 2011 15:02 Meas Sokchea

Teachers from a high school in Svay Rieng province’s Chrom district have filed a complaint with the Anticorruption Unit, accusing their school’s directors of stealing thousands of dollars over a four-year span.

In a complaint issued to the ACU yesterday, teachers from Kroal Kor High School have accused the school’s directors, Touch Sothea and Dy Thayy, of falsifying documents to steal more than US$17,000 to be used for the school’s development.

“[We] would like to request Excellency Om Yentieng, president of the ACU, to please make an investigation to punish both directors,” the complaint read.

Touch Sothea could not be reached for comment yesterday, but Dy Thayy dismissed the allegations, saying she has never taken school money to use for her family.

“This accusation happens because of jealousy. [The complainants] are not good,” she said. Dy Thayy said she would consider suing the teachers because “this accusation is a violation of the law”.

Kong Saroen, director of Svay Rieng provincial education department, declined yesterday to comment in detail. He said, however, that his department was familiar with allegations of corruption at the high school.

The complaint letter also alleged that the pilfering of money from the school’s development fund had caused students to perform poorly compared with previous years.

When contacted yesterday, ACU spokesman Keo Remy said the unit hadn’t taken action on the allegations because the ACU has a backlog of investigations.

“We cannot go to arrest them immediately,” he said. “We must go down to investigate”.

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