Close the boys and girls clubs — contractor general
Contractor General Dirk Harrison has blamed the greed of Jamaica’s political leaders as the single most important factor which has caused little to slow growth in the economy.
“As a country, greed is affecting our growth on both sides of the political divide. We need to ensure we promote growth, facilitate competition in the marketplace, reject, restrain and repel favouritism and nepotism. The boys and girls club needs to close shop,” Harrison cautioned.
He was speaking at the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica President’s Forum at Jamaica Pegasus yesterday on the issue of corruption in the country.
Harrison’s remarks follow a report published by the US Department of State to Congress which painted a “bleak picture” of Jamaica’s judicial system, describing it as “having a poor record of successfully prosecuting corruption cases against high-level law enforcement and government officials”.
The corruption index, entitled, US Narcotics Control Strategy Report 2016, indicated that while the Jamaican Government does not encourage or facilitate illegal activities associated with drug trafficking or the laundering of proceeds from illegal drug transactions, corruption remains entrenched, widespread and compounded by the judicial system.
On the favourable side, the report noted that anti-corruption measures in Jamaica continue to show improvement following the merger of the Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) with the Major Organised and Anti-Corruption Agency in 2014.
“Since ACB’s reorganisation with international support in 2008, 538 police have resigned or have been dismissed for corruption or ethical violations; another 26 officers face criminal corruption charges since 2015,” Harrison said.
“In addition to the report, arguably the findings and observations contained therein suggest that also in some other hallowed quarters, warnings have been conveyed to the present Government and Administration as it relates to what is now seen as a bleak picture presented by the controversial spectrum and telecommunications licence which was granted to Symbiote trading as Caricel,” he continued.
“The list continues. The point I make is simple: if any administration — and I say both sides of the political divide because the OCG report spans both sides — do the homework, sit down and diligence…But what happens in this country is that when an officer of the OCG submits a report, the office is chastised, but yet still, once again, we have a light at the end of the tunnel,” he reasoned.
Referencing a Corruption Index Report published by Transparency National, Harrison noted that the institution ranked Jamaica 69 of 168 countries in 2015, representing a fall in the island’s ranking over 2014.
He added that a recent Bill Johnson poll about corruption in Jamaica also revealed that 70 per cent of Jamaicans surveyed believed that elected officials were corrupt, while 80 per cent believed that members of the police force were corrupt, and 50 per cent of government employees were perceived to be corrupt.
“Ladies and gentlemen, we are in 2017; there is no need for us to stimulate a debate as to whether or not the perception of corruption is a real problem in Jamaica, or whether it is a threat to the nation’s overall well-being,” he said.
“Nor do we need to debate the accuracy of Bill Johnson’s poll. But importantly, the point needs to be made that the pervasiveness of corruption is in fact a very adverse governance phenomenon in Jamaica, and urgent and comprehensive measures need to be aggressively pursued to arrest this governance deficit in all quarters of the society.”