Demand good governance, says the Gleaner Council

• Have you heard?  Forget politics, demand good governance (Errol Morrison)

Over the past few months the Gleaner Council has been spelling out the various requirements for good governance.

Council members have indicated the need for parliamentarians to be given adequate tools for them to function with confidence as impartial servants of the people.

The council has also challenged the tertiary institutions to offer research assistance to our political leaders as part of course assignments for graduate or postgraduate students.

We have challenged the media to play a significant role in monitoring the performance of our political leaders while ensuring that deliverables are met and plans implemented in accordance with consultations with the people.

The council has also urged Jamaicans to be proactive by forming pressure groups to engage parliamentarians in discussions and to ensure that they carry out the activities that will improve the lot of all Jamaicans.

We trust that you have heard and that every Jamaican will accept that neither Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller nor your member of parliament has all the answers to solve the many problems facing the country.

The political leaders will need the help of every Jamaican, hence you need to ensure that you become a watchdog to ensure improved practices and better governance.

• Fix the systems - Loopholes encourage cheats at all levels (Colin Bullock)

Spending other people's money without anybody looking over your shoulder will almost always lead to waste and corruption.

That is the case in any country that allows politicians to spend state resources without any checks and balance on their spending.

Without effective systems, including clear procedures, effective monitoring and prohibitive costs of non-compliance, even 'honest' people may facilitate unaffordable losses to the public purse.

Jamaicans must demand that the political leadership advance legislation for effective monitoring systems with meaningful sanctions for deviation.

The Gleaner Council is convinced that until proper systems are in place and harsh penalties implemented for each breach the auditor general will continue to report annually of the millions of dollars wasted by state agencies.

It is time for every Jamaican to say to the political leaders, "we want measures in place to ensure that when acts of corruption take place the chance of the corrupt being caught and punished is high".

No longer can we have prominent professionals advertising their services while not paying one dollar in taxes because they know that tax dodgers have little chance of getting caught.

Let us put good systems in place and watch the transformation of Jamaican begin.

• Serve here! (Carol Narcisse)

For those of you familiar with going to the local grocery shop or small corner shop you know the call "serve here". It is the standard call for attention when the shop keeper is not readily available.

Well, there are several areas where Jamaicans are receiving an unsatisfactory level of service and these must be addressed.

In some of the areas, the service standards are so low that we feel abused as citizens. Like when we wait for 12 hours and longer to get attention at our hospitals and the staff treats us as if we are a bother.

Like the garbage collection that in many areas is an on-again, off-again service or no service. Like the way the police speak to us in the conduct of their duties, especially if we live in the so-called "inner city" or are otherwise thought of as lacking status and power.

As Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller said about Jamaica moving to become a republic, "time come". The time has come for us to insist on being served, and at a satisfactory level or quality.

The lone voice calling out "serve here" will not get us very far. We must join with others to identify what we want, come up with suggestions for how the cash-strapped country can provide it, identify who is responsible and collectively make representation to the responsible person or persons. No fuss, no fight, just persistent representation.

And remember, the media like news and they are a strategic partner in getting things to move and improve. So if it's the service at your clinic, school, hospital, police force, ministry or other government agency, let this be the year we confidently and purposefully insist: "Serve here!"

Jamaica's 50th anniversary of Independence is time enough for 'we the people' to have satisfactory service.

• People power - Let your political leaders know how strong you can be (Rosalea Hamilton)

There is no getting around the fact that if Jamaica is to see the development and growth which everyone is crying for, every Jamaican will have to take up the mantle through active participation in governance.

This includes constructive dialogue with the political representatives so that they know what you want.

This will force the political leaders to consider the views of the people they represent when making decisions.

Jamaicans must also vigorously monitor the activities and promises of the political leaders and let them know that corrupt practices and empty promises will not be tolerated.

To be effective watchdogs of our political leaders we must prepare ourselves, become knowledgeable and ensure that we are armed with the facts.

The Gleaner Council is urging Jamaicans to forge alliances, join groups and collaborate with each other to strengthen the voices.

We cannot continue to vote then wait for the solutions to the country's problems to come like manna from Heaven.

In the past, we have been told that politicians want to give "power to the people". That did not happen, so this time around let us actively take it and ensure that our political leaders know that "people power" works.

• Pay up!  Tax dodgers hurting every Jamaican (Douglas Orane)

Every government needs money in the form of taxes to perform civil operations and to run the affairs of the State.

But in Jamaica the record of tax compliance is dismal.

In the fiscal year ending March 2009, of the 546,084 tax returns expected to be filed by active taxpayers on record, 196,620 or 36 per cent were not filed.

In the fiscal year ending March 2010, of the 610,066 tax returns expected to be filed, 252,866 or 41 per cent were not filed.

This is clearly a bad situation getting worse, and that is without taking into account the many thousands of persons not within the tax net. This calls for drastic measures, as our society cannot function effectively and fairly with so many persons not paying their fair share.

As the Government struggles to provide vital services Jamaicans who are not paying their taxes are as much to blame as those involved in other corrupt activities.

In this respect, Jamaicans need to ensure that:

1. Tax Administration Jamaica is fully supported in rolling out its initiatives for 2012, ensuring that persons and companies become tax compliant, including a compulsory filing programme and cross-referencing of transactions such as buying motor vehicles and real estate to filing up-to-date tax returns.

2. We benchmark ourselves to the countries that we admire for their high standard of living. Their tax-compliance rates are close to 100 per cent.

3. We use the tax laws, as is done overseas, to successfully tackle the perpetrators of corruption, by taxing their incomes, which is easier to do than obtaining criminal convictions.

4. Our respective MPs know that we expect them to support legislation which gives the tax authorities the powers that exist in other jurisdictions to obtain the necessary information to root out tax evasion, which has become a norm in our society.