What the Central Commission for Inspection and Control revealed in its field tour of Deir ez-Zor fields is a serious warning and alert, uncovering structural flaws and gaps in the Syrian Petroleum Company's internal control system.
What did one tour reveal? According to the Commission's Oil Department Director, Malik Hamada, inspection teams of 22 auditors spotted in a single field tour violations that should have been caught by daily monitoring:
• The absence of proper calibration of tanks in loading yards, with load estimations done randomly, even though this process occurs daily under the eyes of company staff.
• Maintenance contracts with technically unqualified companies continued for months without any objection from technical or administrative committees.
• Oil wells stopped even when there was production, causing losses for the public treasury, with no action taken to restart them or even report their stoppage.
Violations in oil transport by tankers caused damage to public funds in Deir ez-Zor, and the case was referred to the judiciary after investigations, with 9 officials, mostly field and operations managers, suspended, alongside losses and embezzlement worth $28 million.
The irony: What daily monitoring missed was revealed in just one tour. The real danger is not the existence of corruption, but that it is carried out openly every day without any internal oversight mechanisms taking action: • Lack of authorisation was a daily sight in oil loading yards, yet no inspector or supervisor acted. • Work for unqualified companies continued unchecked by technical inspection or monitoring committees, and operations were not stopped. • Idle wells remained non-operational despite their economic potential, highlighting the absence of technical follow-up on well productivity.
This means that the internal oversight system is either non-existent or paralysed! - Where are the audit traps? Where is whistleblower protection? - Lack of internal oversight means the absence of: • Preventive audit measures that stop corruption before it happens (such as pre-contract reviews, verifying contractor qualifications, and tank approvals). • Reporting mechanisms allowing staff to report violations without fear, as none exist. • Whistleblower protection, which makes employees prefer silence over risking their positions and lives.
The technical inspection and monitoring committees, which should have been spotting these violations from day one, are either absent or ineffective. The central authority for audit and inspection has launched a digital platform to receive citizens' complaints, considering that "the citizen is a key partner in fighting corruption," whereas the company has shown no similar initiative.. Why? What the authority revealed is not an occasion for grand statements about ousting corrupt officials, but a serious warning that real anti-corruption efforts start with: • Building internal oversight systems to prevent corruption before it happens, not just detecting it after the fact. • Activating pre-approval oversight on contracts and contractors, so contracts aren’t given to unqualified parties from the start. • Mandatory licensing and calibration, installing cameras in all transport operations, and making it a daily, auditable process. • Creating secure reporting channels for employees, with legal protection for whistleblowers. • Forming proactive technical inspection and monitoring committees, rather than waiting for an external body to play its role.
Zaman Al Wasl
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