The first Sg official abused---Dileep Nair,former Managing
Director of the Development Bank of Singapore (DBS)??
1.Biography
of
Under-Secretary-General Dileep Nair,Singapore
2.
The first allegation was cleared.Report finds no violations,
recommends no further action---16/11/2004
3. Second allegation
31/03/2005 Pub: Strait Times Page: 15
Headline: Dileep Nair mired in another UN controversy
By: Betsy Pisik, Straits Times US Bureau In New York
Page Heading: World
Picture Caption:
UNDER A CLOUD : Mr Nair says the new criticisms are unfair.
Related Stories:
Why the fuss?
He is criticised for using oil-for-food programme funds to hire
assistant
MR DILEEP Nair, the Singaporean inspector-general for the United
Nations who is
being investigated again over allegations of improper hiring
practices and
sexual harassment, is mired in yet another controversy.
A panel investigating the UN's oil-for-food programme for Iraq
has
criticised him for hiring an all-round special assistant - also a
Singaporean -
using money earmarked for the humanitarian programme.
He is accused of hiring Mr Tan Tay Keong for various duties around
his
Office of Internal Oversight Services, few of which explicitly
dealt with the
programme.
The charges against Mr Nair are detailed in a report released on
Tuesday by
the Independent Inquiry Committee (IIC) into the management of the
programme.
Mr Tan, then a public policy professor at the National University
of
Singapore, was hired in May 2001 to develop risk-assessment and
anti-corruption
initiatives for Mr Nair's office.
But several people said that he spent little time on oil-for-food
work. Mr
Tan himself told investigators that the programme accounted for
only 5 per cent
to 10 per cent of his time.
The IIC noted that hiring a special assistant with US$260,000
of
oil-for-food money but not having him focus on that programme was a
'misuse' of
funds that 'violates' staff regulations.
'Given Mr Nair's oversight responsibilities within the
organisation, he must
be held to the highest standards of conduct,' it noted.
Mr Nair said the criticism was 'nitpicking' and unfair.
He said Mr Tan was not hired exclusively for the oil-for-food
programme and
he had made this clear in his communications with UN Human
Resources and the UN
Financial Controller.
'This is certainly not misconduct,' he told The Straits Times late
Tuesday.
'I did what I told the controller I was going to do. The elements
are there.
I didn't misrepresent anything.'
In fact, Mr Tan was hired to create an overdue risk-assessment
strategy and
similar management programmes, which would be introduced in the
Iraq
humanitarian effort and then applied to other departments as well,
he said.
Mr Nair, former managing director of the Development Bank of
Singapore,
agreed that Mr Tan spent little time on Iraq-specific tasks and
said his
responsibilities were, in fact, connected but much larger.
The systems developed for the oil-for-food programme would be used
on other
high-risk efforts, he said, noting that nothing like that existed
in the UN.
Mr Tan, now head of the Singapore International Foundation, was
not
available for comment yesterday.
The IIC's criticisms pale beside its other findings, such as the
attempts by
Mr Kojo Annan, the son of UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, to use
his influence
to steer a lucrative contract to his employer.
But it is clear that senior UN management has run out of patience
with Mr
Nair, whose non-renewable five-year term ends on April 20.
'The question is whether there will be disciplinary action against
Mr Nair,'
said Mr Mark Malloch Brown, the UN Secretary-General's chief of
staff. 'The
answer is: inevitably.'
To Mr Nair, who watched Mr Malloch Brown's press conference on
television in
his office, such an unexpected and public reproach is 'a violation
of my due
process, and just wrong'.----end of quote
4.
Positions on 17.06.2005--BY STEPHANE DUJARRIC,
ASSOCIATE SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL
UN HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK
INVESTIGATION TO PROCEED IN DILEEP NAIRS CASE
* In response to questions asked in recent days about former
Under-Secretary-General for Internal Oversight Services Dileep
Nair, the Spokesman said that, following a review by a third party
of the allegations regarding OIOS management, the Secretary-General
has decided to proceed with an investigation.
*
The initial review was carried out by Jerome Ackerman, a former
President of the UN Administrative Tribunal.
*
The Secretary-General has asked Ackerman to conduct the
investigation with haste, and to complete it within 30-45
days.
*
Asked what Ackerman is to investigate, the Spokesman said that he
would look into the hiring of people in Nairs office, as well as
general management issues within OIOS.
*
The Spokesman added that the Secretary-General had earlier this
year received more information about those issues by the Staff
Union, and he decided to turn to a third party to see if there was
enough information to proceed with an investigation.
*
Asked what would be the consequences of this investigation, given
that Nair has retired from the United Nations, Dujarric said that
it would give Nair a chance to clear his name, and would give the
staff members closure. For the United Nations, it would provide
lessons in how to improve management within OIOS.
*
Asked whether Nairs pension could be affected, the Spokesman said
that pensions as a matter of policy belong to the staff
members.
5.Response from Sg MFA
ON 30.03.2005
MFA Spokesman's Comments - Reference to Dileep Nair by the
Independent Inquiry Committee led by Paul Volcker
MFA SPOKESMAN'S COMMENTS
REFERENCE TO DILEEP NAIR BY THE
INDEPENDENT INQUIRY COMMITTEE LED BY PAUL VOLCKER
In response to media queries, the MFA Spokesman said:
"It is difficult to understand what the fuss is about.
The Independent Inquiry Committee (IIC) claims that Mr Dileep Nair
had misrepresented the duties to be performed by his former Special
Assistant, Mr Tan Tay Keong, to obtain funding for the post from
the Oil for Food Programme (OFFP). But Mr Nair's point that Mr
Tan's work "did benefit the [OFFP] Programme" is not disputed by
the IIC. And Mr Nair's 30 July 2001 note to the UN's Financial
Controller made it clear that Mr Tan would be performing many
duties, including but not limited to OFFP work. The decision to
fund Mr Tan's post from the OFFP was not made by Mr Nair but by
UN's Financial Controller with full knowledge of the facts.
The IIC was set up to look into allegations that billions of
dollars had been mismanaged or siphoned off from OFFP. It is
baffling that the IIC has chosen to nit pick on a trivial
difference of interpretation of one official's job scope, something
for which Mr Nair was not responsible."
6.I remember that Sg has said she will not send official to UN
.
Pl share the latest info here.
