2006年VOA标准英语-Vietnam's Minister of Transportation Resig

By Matt Steinglass
Hanoi
04 April 2006
 
 
Dao Dinh Binh
(File photo - Dec. 4, 2003) 
  
Vietnam's transportation minister has resigned to take responsibility for a huge gambling¹ scandal, and a vice² minister has been suspended for corruption⁴ on the scale of tens of millions of dollars.

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Dao Dinh Binh, head of Vietnam's ministry⁵ of transportation, finally took the step Tuesday that citizens and government leaders had been demanding since last week: he resigned.

Binh is the highest-ranking victim yet of the so-called PMU-18 affair, a gambling and corruption scandal that has implicated⁶ numerous senior officials at a transportation ministry unit in illegal betting rings, bribes⁸, and fraud running into the tens of millions of dollars.

Nguyen Van Cong, the ministry's chief administrator⁹, says Binh's resignation did not mean he had personally done anything wrong.

He says Binh resigned to accept responsibility for not preventing misconduct by his subordinates.

Still, the resignation came a week after Prime Minister Phan Van Khai declared that corrupt³ officials should resign their posts. With the 10th congress of Vietnam's Communist Party set to begin on April 18, Binh's resignation signals that a major anti-corruption push could be under way.

The scandal first became public in January, when Bui Tien Dung, head of the ministry's Project Management Unit 18, or PMU-18, was arrested for allegedly betting $1.8 million on soccer matches.

Police said an office computer showed that up to 200 other employees had been betting as well. Dung was alleged¹⁰ to have spent his winnings on girlfriends, and to have passed some of the money on to his boss.

According to an official at the ministry of public security, who asked not to be named, the investigation¹¹ of Dung has now moved from gambling to more serious allegations of corruption.

The official says police are looking into a series of farms and villas¹² owned by Dung. They are also investigating charges that since his arrest, Dung has attempted to bribe⁷ various influential¹³ figures to have the charges against him reduced or dropped.

By late March, Dung's boss, Vice Minister Nguyen Viet Tien, had been called in for questioning. On March 23, Tien was also suspended from his post, and this week the Communist Party stripped him of his membership and he was arrested.

Over the past week, Vietnamese newspapers have published stories detailing fraud and malfeasance at PMU-18 on a vast scale. Two-point-eight million dollars are said to have disappeared on one highway project alone. On another project, 13 out of 21 brand new bridges were found to be defective¹⁴.

1 gambling   

n.赌博；投机

参考例句：

• They have won a lot of money through gambling.他们赌博赢了很多钱。
• The men have been gambling away all night.那些人赌了整整一夜。

2 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

3 corrupt   

v.贿赂，收买；adj.腐败的，贪污的

参考例句：

• The newspaper alleged the mayor's corrupt practices.那家报纸断言市长有舞弊行为。
• This judge is corrupt.这个法官贪污。

4 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

5 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

6 implicated   

adj.密切关联的；牵涉其中的

参考例句：

• These groups are very strongly implicated in the violence. 这些组织与这起暴力事件有着极大的关联。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Having the stolen goods in his possession implicated him in the robbery. 因藏有赃物使他涉有偷盗的嫌疑。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

7 bribe   

n.贿赂；v.向…行贿，买通

参考例句：

• He tried to bribe the policeman not to arrest him.他企图贿赂警察不逮捕他。
• He resolutely refused their bribe.他坚决不接受他们的贿赂。

8 bribes   

n.贿赂( bribe的名词复数 )；向（某人）行贿，贿赂v.贿赂( bribe的第三人称单数 )；向（某人）行贿，贿赂

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• corrupt officials accepting bribes 接受贿赂的贪官污吏

9 administrator   

n.经营管理者，行政官员

参考例句：

• The role of administrator absorbed much of Ben's energy.行政职务耗掉本很多精力。
• He has proved himself capable as administrator.他表现出管理才能。

10 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为

11 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

12 villas   

别墅，公馆( villa的名词复数 )； （城郊）住宅

参考例句：

• Magnificent villas are found throughout Italy. 在意大利到处可看到豪华的别墅。
• Rich men came down from wealthy Rome to build sea-side villas. 有钱人从富有的罗马来到这儿建造海滨别墅。

13 influential   

adj.有影响的，有权势的

参考例句：

• He always tries to get in with the most influential people.他总是试图巴结最有影响的人物。
• He is a very influential man in the government.他在政府中是个很有影响的人物。

14 defective   

adj.有毛病的，有问题的，有瑕疵的

参考例句：

• The firm had received bad publicity over a defective product. 该公司因为一件次品而受到媒体攻击。
• If the goods prove defective, the customer has the right to compensation. 如果货品证明有缺陷， 顾客有权索赔。