OCG wants more action against corruption

Monday, April 25, 2011

WARNING that Jamaica has been consistently ranked as one of the most perceived corrupt countries in the Americas, the Office of the Contractor General (OCG) has called for all “well-thinking and well-meaning Jamaicans to demand decisive, aggressive and urgent action in the fight against corruption in Jamaica.”

Citing the example of a case in India where the organiser of the 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games was arrested over allegations of widespread corruption into the award of contracts at the event, the OCG said Jamaica should take note, and act likewise.

“It is well known that [matters relating to the allegations] are common and recurring features of public procurement and contracting in Jamaica. However, it is difficult to point to any criminal arrests being made, or prosecutions being initiated, whenever such matters have been alleged or have been referred to the relevant authorities,” the OCG said in a statement.

“The arrest brings into sharp focus the failings and ineffectiveness of Jamaica’s anti-corruption institutional framework, inclusive of its constituent elements which, as the OCG has time and time again contended, although it looks good on paper, has been abysmally ineffective in securing the arrest, prosecution and conviction of high ranking Jamaican public officials who are suspected of complicity in corrupt activities, inclusive of the irregular, improper or corrupt award of Government contracts and licences.”

The OCG said action must be necessarily led by the executive and legislative arms of the State which should give urgent consideration to the immediate establishment of an all-embracing and adequately resourced National Independent Anti-Corruption Agency for Jamaica.

“To be effective, it is critically imperative that any such agency should embrace the current operational mandates and functions of Jamaica’s Corruption Prevention Commission, the Integrity Commission and the OCG,” the OCG said.

“The Special Prosecutor Bill, which is currently before the Parliament, and which seeks to merge the Corruption Prevention Commission and the Integrity Commission, has curiously omitted from its purview the functions of the OCG, although it is a universally recognised fact that the largest opportunity that exists, in monetary terms, for corruption in any country, lies in the illicit manipulation of the award of Government contracts and licences, and the divestment of State assets.”

The OCG said any proposed single National Independent Anti-Corruption Agency for Jamaica should also be accorded special police powers of arrest and criminal investigative and prosecution jurisdictional powers over all corruption matters.

“[And it] must be supported and backed by powerful anti-corruption laws which impose tough custodial and other criminal sanctions, together with anti-corruption institutional leaders who are prepared to dispassionately and aggressively discharge their mandates by bringing to book the pervasively corrupt elements in Jamaica who, thus far, are perceived to have been able to pursue their illicit affairs with little or no interference from Jamaica’s law enforcement and prosecutorial authorities,” the OCG said.

The OCG said although much has been promised by the Government to visibly and effectively advance the fight against grand corruption in Jamaica, “to date nothing meaningful has been accomplished save and except for the arrest of low-ranking police officers on petty corruption charges”.

Organizer of India's Commonwealth Games arrested

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OCG wants more action against corruption