Devon Dick
ON SATURDAY, past president of the Incor-porated Master Builders Association of Jamaica (IMAJ), Don Mullings, in wide-ranging remarks at the IMAJ Annual Dinner said, "there is no right way to do a wrong thing." He was not self-righteous in making that statement or in presenting a case study to his audience of how one should react when faced with the choice of ethical behaviour or getting the contract for one's business.
It was quite an appropriate remark because so much of the corruption, mismanagement and waste have to do with the procurement and execution of government contracts.
The new Prime Minister, the Honourable Portia Simpson Miller desires to fight corruption. But she is not the first PM to pledge that. On Thursday, CVM TV News showed a 1992 clip from the Honourable P.J. Patterson's swearing-in ceremony in which he said he did not want even a sniff of corruption to be associated with his administration.
Likewise, British Prime Minister Tony Blair was swept to power because the Conser-vative government was synonymous with 'sleaze' and he promised to be purer than pure. However, a couple weeks ago it was revealed that he obtained £14 million in loans for his Labour Party's re-election campaign and not even the chairman or the Treasurer of his party was aware of the loans.
Furthermore, there is furore that some of the millionaire donors got national honours in exchange for their contribution. This was just a couple days after Blair's Cabinet Minister and her husband were involved in late declaration of a £300,000 gift which her husband claimed originally came from Italian Prime Minister for 'helpful' testimony in a fraud case.
Fighting corruption in business and government will be a hard task but a necessary one. The PM promised having clergymen on government boards to help in accountability and probity. In addition, it would be good to allow the Opposition JLP to nominate one person to every government board. This also could help prevent corruption, lessen tension and allow for fairness in the distribution of benefits.
In addition, party financing must be more transparent. Too many political parties and campaigns are being administered like some churches. The accounts of political parties and their campaign teams should be audited.
The contributors should be public knowledge. The Honour-able Portia Simpson Miller said she is not indebted to anyone as a result of her presidential campaign. That is excellent. But it implied that some persons might be indebted. And we know that a former Minister of Finance returned campaign
contribution. The possibility of corruption and undue influence of business interests is real. Therefore, grants and loans to political parties and campaigns should be made public. But a first step could be a declaration to the Electorial Advisory Committee or Integrity Com-mission with punitive sanctions for false declaration.
Furthermore, the Integrity Commission should be strengthened to cover the declarations of spouses because they could be benefiting from government contracts and, or receiving bribes on behalf of their partners. In addition, it seems odd when I hear it said that poorly paid politicians can afford extramarital affairs and other sexual liaisons. Where is that money coming from?
The Fair Trading Commission has strict guidelines concerning receipt of gifts and this should also apply to Members of Parliament.
Fighting corruption involves making the tax system more equitable and taxes more reasonable. In addition, the delivery of goods and services should be more timely, thereby eliminating the need to 'beat the system'.
Studies have showed that corruption is one of the major factors that inhibits economic growth, so let's join hands and heart and fight it.
Rev Devon Dick is pastor of Boulevard Baptist Church and author of 'Rebellion to Riot: the Church in Nation Building'.
