The Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) charged four employees for a contractor of the Environmental Protection Department (EPD) and two staff members of a waste disposal company for allegedly offering and accepting advantages for assisting the company to unload construction waste onto a landfill free of charge, and conspiring together to defraud the EPD. The case was mentioned at Eastern Magistrates' Courts today (June 13).

     The EPD attaches great importance to the integrity and good professional ethics of all staff, and does not tolerate any corruption acts. The department has been co-operating actively with and has offered full assistance to the ICAC's investigation.

     The EPD has conducted a comprehensive review of relevant workflow and regulatory regime, and has made improvements with reference to the advice of the ICAC's Corruption Prevention Department, including applying an automatic sampling process when inspecting waste collection vehicles to reduce the effect of human factors. On-site EPD staff members will be informed of the sampling results concurrently to facilitate their conducting of ambush inspections, strengthening the regulation of landfill operations.

     In view of the ongoing legal proceedings, the EPD will not comment on the specifics of the case.

Ends/Thursday, June 13, 2024
Issued at HKT 14:41

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