A culture of mediocrity

Some people are criticising the contractor general, Greg Christie, for being "overzealous", presumably because he is enthusiastically investigating the awarding of government contracts, and - wonder of wonders - he is finding impropriety and irregularity, that some public servants and politicians have been breaching government procurement guidelines.

But isn't this his job, after all? Isn't this what he is con-tracted to do? What do his critics want? Do they wish him to appear to be working hard, but to find nothing or very little? Or do they wish him not to appear to be working hard at all? Mediocrity seems to be the order of the day, such that anyone who does his job well and gets results is "overzealous". All we should need to say to a hard-working public official is, "Well done, good and faithful servant; you have done your duty - no more and no less." But the truth is that in Jamaica, people who do their job well are an embarrassment to those who do not.

'Overzealous' is good

If we had overzealous teachers, maybe our ill-iteracy rate wouldn't be so high and our exam pass rate so low. If we had overzealous investigative reporters, maybe more bribery and corruption would be uncovered. Maybe if we had overzealous detectives, the link between politics and criminality would have long been wiped out. If we had an overzealous environmental agency, maybe we wouldn't have the most overfished waters in the Caribbean, so many millions of gallons of raw sewage being discharged into the sea every day, and one of the highest rates of deforestation in the world.

Greg Christie is not the first person to hold the post of contractor general of Jamaica, but under his watch so much is being uncovered. In this regard he is singular and unusual, as his performance is unprecedented in Jamaican history. I wonder when his contract ends what excuse will be given for not renewing it? Already he his making people in high places uncomfortable, as he is not playing the game properly.

Who is it that is in charge of enforcing the Government's integrity legislation? They cannot be accused of being overzealous; not even for being slightly zealous. The fact that every year some politicians fail to make their declarations when they are due - which is an offence - and that no one has ever been punished for breaking that law shows that some public servants know what is expected of them, and know how to play the game. And no one has ever even been charged for making a false declaration, for failing to declare some asset. This is how the politicians designed the 'integrity legislation' to work.

We should stand by Christie

We need to thank God for Mr Christie, and to offer him all the support he needs as he does his job, and there must be a public outcry if efforts are made to remove him from his post.

Indeed, his investigations are so productive that we should apply the principle that "the reward for good work is more work". Mr Christie can detect breaches, but he cannot prosecute them; that is the job of the director of public prosecutions.

Part of the trouble is that many of the breaches he exposes are not criminal offences; the politicians prepare procurement guidelines to encourage transparency and to deter corruption, but have not made breaching them illegal. And so the most that can be done to politicians who breach the official procurement guidelines is to rap them on the knuckles and say, "Shame on you!" Maybe they will be accused of 'youthful exuberance' (decidedly not the same thing as overzealousness). After all the trouble Mr Christie goes through to detect and expose breaches, very little ever comes of it.

And so Parliament must move to make breaches of government procurement guidelines criminal offences punishable by law. But that is unlikely to happen anytime soon, for the fox will never pass a law making henhouse-breaking illegal.

Peter Espeut is an environmentalist and a Roman Catholic deacon.