BASED ON his most recent pronouncements, the Prime Minister seems to have accepted that there is a distinction between unethical behaviour by public servants warranting punitive action and legally-defined corruption. Hitherto, when confronted by behaviour involving the misuse of public funds he has tended to brush aside the ethical argument and then proceed to deny corruption because there is no proof of unjust enrichment.
This newspaper and a number of commentators have been trying to demonstrate that the range of 'screw ups' can't simply be between corruption and youthful exuberance or between corruption and negligence or even between corruption and mismanagement. Somewhere in-between there is unethical behaviour executed with a bad conscience. There ought to be punishment, including dismissal, for such unethical acts and we are pleased to see that the PM has come around to this position.
He is now proposing to amend the Public Bodies Act and the Corruption Prevention Act to allow for the weeding out of unethical acts. This is to include the ability to retire persons in the public interest based on loss of confidence rather than strict legal proof of malfeasance. The amendment to the Corruption Prevention Act will seek to reduce the categories of public officials to be monitored, so that greater scrutiny can be placed on those in sensitive positions and with the opportunity to bend the rules.
It is also time, we think, for the Corruption Prevention Commission to step up the pace at which it does its checks and propose sanctions for those found in breach of established regulations. Since its inception, little practical work seems to have been done by the Commission.
Another important proposed change will be to prevent 'bad eggs' from one government department simply being transferred to some other department or agency. This principle should also apply to the Jamaica Constabulary Force. For far too long it has been a ridiculous policy for one group of bad cops in whom the Commissioner has lost confidence, to be publicly transferred from one division to another, only for them to continue carrying out their unethical or illegal activities.
The proposed amendments are important steps forward in public administration and we are pleased to have the PM on record as confirming that there is a distinction between ethical misbehaviour and corruption, the former normally preceding the latter.
THE OPINIONS ON THIS PAGE, EXCEPT FOR THE ABOVE, DO NOT NECESSARILY REFLECT THE VIEWS OF THE GLEANER.
