Do we dare now have hope?

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

MR Danville Walker, the commissioner of customs, has given us one of the brightest pieces of news we have had in a long time.

The customs boss is quoted in our Sunday edition as saying that his job of fighting corruption at the island's major ports of entry is getting easier.

At the same time, and in the same edition, we are informed by the Inland Revenue Department (IRD) that it has overshot its $60 billion revenue collection target, by roping in some of the many Jamaicans who have been dodging taxes.

The cynical reader might say we are too easily satisfied. However, to us there is great significance in those two bits of news, which are actually quite related.

For a very long time now, Jamaicans have placed corruption at or near the top of our list of problems holding back the progress and development of this country. Only crime-fighting seems to take precedence among the ills our citizens want the Government to tackle with the greatest urgency.

Mr Walker last month marked two years in the position of commissioner of the Jamaica Customs Department, which was previously dubbed a 'hotbed of corruption' by Finance Minister Audley Shaw.

"I have a lot less obstacles now than I had when I started," Mr Walker told our reporter. We draw from that that once there is demonstration of courage and determination, many of the problems which seem intractable can be removed.

We are in Mr Walker's debt for this singular achievement.

But we can also learn another lesson from the experience at the Customs Department. For Mr Walker, importantly, attributes his successes to the fact that a lot of people had bought into the vision that we can have a system that is free and fair for everybody.

"What you find happening now is that more people are now prepared to assist...Some people are prepared to talk up more and join customs in the fight against criminality," he said.

The lesson is that the state agencies charged with cleaning up our system cannot do it alone. Jamaicans of honesty and patriotism have to be prepared to support them.

To the customs department, we can add the Jamaica Constabulary Force. The fight against crime will be won when all or most Jamaicans see it as our responsibility, and stop leaving it to the police alone.

We feel constrained as well to mention the Office of the Contractor General and its leader, Mr Greg Christie who is as much the terrier as Mr Walker. In time, this country will come to appreciate fully the contribution these two men are making to Jamaica's well-being.

And while the subject of taxation is never a happy one, it is a positive development to see that the tax burden is about to get lighter on those who are honest enough to pay up.

The more tax dodgers are brought to book, the lesser the need for the Government to impose higher taxes on the citizenry.

Right now, the category of captive taxpayers called Pay As You Earn (PAYE) is under the gun, so to speak. We support the drive to widen the tax net. In fact if we had our way, we would see to it that the Government did not get one more cent of taxes, until it had sufficiently collected from the tax dodgers.

In that same breath, we are hopeful that as the Jamaica Public Service Company regularises those communities which steal electricity, the company wil be able to pass on the benefits of lower bills to its customers. For we all know that it is the honest ones who have to pay for the thieves.

Hope springs eternal.

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COMMENTS (16)

John Smith
7/21/2010

But Winston, can't you have a balanced view of things? You don't need to be all bi-polar... Nobody is saying the country is 'hopeless,' no one is saying 'wi reach.' Even the Observer sees a process, & I can't see who in the comments told you not to vote for the JLP. I'm just saying the government is doing its job in some areas but it's too early to celebrate and shout success... I'll decide who deserves my vote on the day of the polls. Mi nuh have nuh gyarrisn mentality!

Winston G
7/21/2010

Gentlemen:
I concede. Everything is wrong with Jamaica. There is nothing -absolutely nothing - that we can take encouragement from. We are a country without hope - well actually, if we get rid of this administration that has done ABSOLUTELY NOTHING for Jamaica, then we can get back to the wonderful, vibrant, growing, crime-free country we had prior to 2007. On your advice I will not vote for the JLP again, that would be a wicked thing to do to Jamaica.

Hope Alive
7/20/2010

Success - Jamaica defaults on its debt (JDX) and another default waiting in the wings; Civil servants owed billions; interest rates trending down but no one borrowing; BOJ looses Billions; More tourists, no monetary growth; State of Emergency for two months - less than 100 guns found out of total of about 5,000 on the streets; no suspected murders charged. The giant (crime) may be sleeping but not dead. We're living in fools' paradise!

John Smith
7/20/2010

The JLP is well supported by the business community, helping with the JDX. Tufton is doing a decent job in Agriculture, but it is not 'booming.' Tourists are coming to heavily discounted rooms trying to compete with a State of Emergency. The IMF loan - just like previous IMF loans - & increased tax collection, have boosted our economy & the JMD is revaluing after plummeting beyond anything in the last 10yrs in 2009, & is still not back to its 2007 value against the USD. Too early to celebrate.

gary lee
7/20/2010

Mr. Walker's job has gotten easier because there is no more crime King Pin and his friends are in hiding. Does the figures at the IRD translate to better collection at the ports of entry or other taxes?
Don't hold your breath to see reduced taxes or fees if collection improves, that is not the way the system works. Jamaica's debt repayment and sale of our assets will see more bleeding of foreign earnings going abroad. Jamaican citizens with huge foreign earnings stashed must be taxed.

John Smith
7/20/2010

Brooklyn, Hope, Rick - true words. Indeed it is true that Colin Campbell was resigned because he is purported to have accepted Trafigura's 'gift.' Ronald Robinson was resigned because of his apparent leading role in Mannat, and at the next election the PNP was rightfully resigned from governance with promise of better from the JLP. Let's see what happens with the JLP next election. Winston, I think they'll really need your unquestioning vote!

Wilfred Gray
7/20/2010

Byron Malcolm,sounded,lunatically fanatically; How caan u say,a pure -exile pnps a post,when those who Golding attack,were the same ones he defended for over nine months ,were the same ones who voted JLP,always.
Remember,Golding was not always there from 1997 to...not even in 2003,when Seaga,JLp sweeps...we were always there...even Golding came.
So wize-up,brethren.

Winston G
7/20/2010

@ Rick Edwards.
I agree with you about the battered wife syndrome and our keeping the fire under the government's tail. But it is ok to give credit to public officials doing a good job. It's only reasonable, since we do criticize them when they perform poorly. And the Editor is simply asking a question. Do we dare now have hope? Something that has eluded us for years. It's a question worth asking.

Winston G
7/20/2010

@ Hope Alive
I join you in celebrating the successes of the government. The JDX a master stroke. Interest rates down to a level not seen in the previous administration. Crime trending down. Agriculture booming. Tourism growing in spite of challenges. Economic indicators looking good. Consumer and business confidence growing. Revenue collections on target. Foreign investments coming. Air Jamaica off our backs. Less than 50% of budget servicing debt. Success!!!!

Rick Edwards
7/20/2010

Jamaica is suffering from battered wife syndrome where govts treat us so badly that we are just happy when they do bare minimum. We need to hold our praises and keep the fire under the tail of the government. Let history be the judge of this and any other government. The govt. has shown it needs to be forced to work so let us keep the pressure on them and make sure they do their jobs. In the end good governance will benefit everyone.

Hope Alive
7/20/2010

Cheers to the successes of the Govt. 13 quarters of economic decline; 70 persons killed in Tivoli; unemployment on the increase; import outweights export 3:1; the Govt shielded a criminal for more than nine months; Jamaicans are scraped up, detained, photographed, figerprinted - illegally. Success?

E Bonner
7/20/2010

It is not that most Jamaicans are leaving the fight against crime to the police alone. Most, if not all of us, are prepared to help in this fight as we have long realised that not doing so will at some point be detrimental to us either directly or indirectly. The problem point right back to the matter of corruption within the police force. Many of us do not trust the police either; in the process of providing information or in the process of carrying out their duties professionally. Despite this however we dare not loose hope! That is why we thank God for people like Greg Christie and Danville Walker.

byron malcolm
7/20/2010

Mr. Editor
Did you peruse Portia Simpson for a full disclosure of her role in the Trafigura issue? Nobody killing anymore, so we find time to write 'duppy stories'
give us a break. not saying that Golding was right to delay the course of justice, but he did not break any law ;as far as i am concern. The Man apologized to the country, Portia never did.

raz rik
7/20/2010

well said.....but are the averange jamaican citizen feel or see the effect of these tsx dollars been spent for the development of the country?i cant see where are all those millions of dollars going!!!!!!!

Brooklyn Jamaican
7/20/2010

I hate the word corruption as its used in Jamaica. It is simply a neat coded word to describe white colored criminality.
AS for Mr. WE need to stop hailing men as heroes for simply doing their job. IN other jurisdictions he himself would have been fired because obviously the security systems in place have not been working. For that he should be held responsible. Please do not tell me there is not one other living Jamaican who can do this job.

Winston G
7/20/2010

I know I will be accused of campaigning for the government, but I support the truth, and the truth is that - Dudus/Manatt aside - this administration is doing a good job. I am particularly proud of Mr. Shaw. Mr. Golding messed up big time, and deserves the cussing he's getting, but I don't think he gets the credit he deserves for his administration's successes. Give him his due.
Well done Messrs. Walker, Christie (since he was mentioned) and Shaw. The JLP will get my vote again.

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GCT to go down, white rum prices going up

Do we dare now have hope?