By Vernon Daley, Parliamentary Reporter
LAST FRIDAY, something significant happened in the Senate. At its first working session for this parliamentary year, Attorney-General A.J. Nicholson made a formal apology to the nation and his colleagues for the delay in the full activation of the Corruption Prevention Commission.
For a moment, on hearing Mr. Nicholson's apology, I thought I was somewhere else. Perhaps the United States Congress or the House of Commons in Britain some place where leaders take responsibility.
After shaking off my temporary numbness, I listened intently as the Attorney-General stepped up and admitted that the passage of the regulations, which should spell out the operational details of legislation, was long overdue.
"The buck stops with me," the Attorney-General said. I commend him for that show of bravery in accepting responsibility for a matter falling under his portfolio. It's something leaders should do as a matter of course but since that quality of leadership is so rare here, we should applaud whenever we stumble upon it.
In a well-thinking country, an apology would not be sufficient to remedy such a foul up. Perhaps, his resignation would have been the only compensation. But, this is Jamaica and I suppose one has to give thanks for small mercies.
But, having taken responsibility for this failure, the Attorney-General should know that he is unable to escape the criticism that his administration has allowed corruption to blossom in Jamaica even while it had a weapon to fight it.
It's more than a disgrace that the Corruption Prevention Act was passed two years ago and the regulations for the legislation are still before Parliament. A three member Commission has been appointed, provided with an office and administrative staff, yet they are sitting idly, unable to carry out their job.
All this time, the allegations and reality of corruption in the public sector continue to grow. The suss is incessant that some public servants are growing fat, heartily eating from the tree of corruption.
Corrupt public servants a slipping through the cracks and this, in part, is due to the lack of urgency in putting this anti-corruption body to work. The benefits of such a commission are not a matter of theory; they are real. Hong Kong was once one of the most corrupt countries in the world. Today, through a very powerful anti-corruption body, the situation has been turned around.
Mr. Nicholson says he is pushing for the passage of the legislation by yearend so the Corrup-tion Prevention Commission can be fully up and running by January next year. That's a reasonable timetable, in the context.
Last Friday, a new parliamentary committee was proposed to look at the regulations. The committee has to wrap up its work in one sitting so the Senate can debate the matter next Friday and the House the following Tuesday.
There were some rumblings from the Opposition benches about placing a predetermined deadline on the committee to complete its work. I don't have much of a quarrel with that argument. However, the fact is that a great deal of work has already been done in considering and making recommendations on these regulations.
If it builds on the work already done, I find it hard to see why the committee would not be able to complete its business in one sitting. But, we will have to wait and see if we are in for more delays.
But, even as we focus on the hold up with the Corruption Prevention Commission, we should keep in mind that this is merely an indication of a larger problem. The delay in passing regulations, sometimes months after Bills are dispatched by Parliament is a long standing matter of concern.
It has prompted several legislators to vent their disgust in the past. Sadly, nothing has changed. It's funny how sometimes we know the root causes of our problems and yet we talk around them. The problem, in part, is due to inadequate staff at the office of the Chief Parliamentary Counsel, which drafts legislation. If we need more staff, then let's have them. Otherwise, we are going to continue to pass legislation which take years to come into effect.
