Michael Abrahams | Why we need to follow the money

Last week, the presidents of the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ), the Jamaica Manufacturers and Exporters Association (JMEA) and the Jamaica Chamber of Commerce (JCC) wrote a letter to Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness regarding the government’s response to Hurricane Melissa. In the letter, the leaders of the organisations acknowledged and commended the efforts of government agencies, first responders and volunteers, but expressed the view that “the current pace of recovery is not keeping up with the escalating humanitarian needs.” In view of this concern, they made several requests, including one for “oversight and transparency.”

I posted the letter on my Facebook page and asked for opinions, as I shared similar concerns. However, during a conversation on the page with a Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) supporter, I asked a question that incurred his wrath. The question was, “Do you know how much money the government has received and how it has been allocated?” It was a simple question, but it triggered a vitriolic tirade, during which I was accused of being “political” and “fuelling propaganda”, called a “disappointment”, and ordered to stop the “divisive narrative.”

It is unfortunate that at a time like this, political tribalism continues to thrive. We all have a right to know how much money and other forms of aid our government has received and how it is being allocated, which is why the aforementioned letter called for “oversight and transparency.” This request is not accusatory. However, there are some inconvenient truths we should appreciate.

First, governmental corruption during disaster relief is “a thing”. The phenomenon is a global one and has been thoroughly researched. For example, a study titled ‘Disasters and corruption: An Empirical Analysis of 16 countries from Asia and the Middle East’ by Zafar et al published in International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction in May 2023, found that disasters triggered by natural hazards influence corruption, and that this occurs through three main channels. First, large inflows of humanitarian aid in the wake of a disaster may generate resource windfalls. Secondly, a lack of transparency and accountability after a disaster facilitates misappropriation of funds. For instance, emergency clauses in procurement regulations allow for less oversight, which can be exploited by corrupt officials. Last, corruption on a small scale, such as bribery and extortion, may escalate when institutions collapse in the aftermath of a disaster. Corruption was also found to be more prevalent in developing countries.

Corruption also has the potential to exacerbate the impact of a disaster by delaying recovery and increasing mortality. In a study titled “Corruption Kills: Global Evidence from Natural Disasters” by Serhan Cevik and João Tovar Jalles, published in IMF eLibrary on October 27, 2023, the researchers empirically investigated whether corruption increases the loss of human lives caused by natural disasters. A large panel of 135 countries during the period 1980–2020 was examined. The study concluded that there was “convincing evidence that corruption increases the number of disaster-related deaths, after controlling for economic, demographic, healthcare and institutional factors”, and that “the higher the level of corruption in a given country, the greater the number of fatalities as a share of population due to natural disasters.” Their results also showed that “the devastating impact of corruption on loss of human lives caused by natural disasters is significantly greater in developing countries, which are even more vulnerable to nonlinear effects of corruption.”

Another inconvenient truth is that corruption is endemic in our “developing” country. According to a 2024 report published by Transparency International, Jamaica is perceived as the third most corrupt country in the English-speaking Caribbean. Jamaica’s 2023 Corruption Perception Index (CPI) score was 44 out of 100. A score of zero means ‘highly corrupt’, and 100 ‘very clean’. According to Transparency International, “a CPI score of below 50 means a country has a serious corruption problem and signals prevalent bribery, lack of punishment for corruption and public institutions that do not respond to citizens’ needs.” The organisation said that “Jamaica has been firmly planted in this category for 22 years”, adding that “collusion among the powerful, as well as the overwhelming dominance of the executive over the legislature, weakens the parliament’s oversight capacities, creating conditions ripe for abuse and corruption.”

Yet another inconvenient truth is that both the People’s National Party (PNP) and the JLP are responsible for our corruption woes, as both have racked up an impressive list of scandals. In fact, one of the reasons we should demand transparency and oversight regarding the aid the government has received is that we have experienced a hurricane relief scandal before, courtesy of the PNP – the infamous zinc scandal. The last time we took a direct hit from a major hurricane, before Melissa, was in 1988 when Gilbert, a category 3 storm, devastated much of the island. The outgoing JLP government in 1989 left behind approximately $400 million worth of zinc imported for the relief of the hurricane victims. However, when the PNP took office, they allegedly disregarded the official list of beneficiaries and distributed the zinc to their supporters and gang members, depriving many needy and vulnerable hurricane victims of the commodity.

When the government announced the establishment of committees to manage matters relating to Hurricane Melissa, including only lawmakers from the JLP, many insisted that some members of the Opposition be also included. However, the letter from the PSOJ, JMEA, and JCC recommended that, in addition to members of the Opposition, representatives from the private sector and civil society must also be involved, and rightly so.

Requesting an account of funds and other forms of aid should not be perceived as an affront, and suboptimal transparency will only foster public mistrust and fuel conspiracy theories. We should all be realistic and humbly acknowledge that we have a poor track record of transparency and accountability, and that the mishandling of our aid, whether intentional or not, will ultimately be to the detriment of us all.

Michael Abrahams is an obstetrician and gynaecologist, social commentator, and human-rights advocate. Send feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and michabe_1999@hotmail.com, or follow him on X , formerly Twitter, @mikeyabrahams