JA needs anti-corruption agency, says 'overburdened' Christie

JamaicaObserver.com

Monday, March 22, 2010

COMPLAINING that his office has become overburdened by the scale of corruption in Jamaica, Contractor General Greg Christie is calling for the establishment of an independent anti-corruption state agency.

Christie said in a statement today that he had written a letter to the Prime Minister and others recommending that the agency would, among other powers, investigate and prosecute all corruption and related criminal offences. The proposed agency would encompass the Integrity Commission, the Corruption Prevention Commission and the Office of the Contractor General itself.

"In particular, the OCG, like many Jamaicans, is very concerned about the seeming lack of progress in prosecuting meaningful efforts to effectively combat corruption in Jamaica. Much has been said but, in the grand scale of things, relatively very little has been done," he wrote.

He recognised moves by Government to establish a special prosecutor in the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions but said that this would lack the necessary independence. Rather he said that the responsibility to prosecute corruption cases should instead be handed to the proposed agency.

"The OCG believes that a truly independent and adequately resourced National Anti-Corruption State Agency, with independent criminal investigative and prosecutorial powers, and with the mandate to deal with all corruption matters, will provide us all with a better and quicker chance of succeeding in the fight to kill the monster of corruption that has now blanketed and over-shadowed Jamaica. This concept or approach is not a novel one," he wrote.

He also had several recommendations regarding the court system: that either a special corruption court be established; or dedicated anti-corruption magistrates be appointed; or precedence be given in the courts to the adjudication of corruption-related cases, except capital and other serious criminal offences such as rape.