People’s National Party (PNP) delegates voted unanimously for a resolution asking the Government to study the benefits of legislation that would grant full protection to individuals who give the authorities information on corruption.

The proposed legislation, known as the Whistle Blower Act, would strengthen the government’s efforts at tackling wrongdoing and would also act as a deterrent, the delegates said.

The vote was taken last Friday, the opening day of the party’s three-day 67th annual conference inside the National Arena in the capital.

The resolution, proposed by Paul Burke, and seconded by Cynthia Wilson of the New Foundations group, read: “Be it resolved that this 67th annual conference of the People’s National Party urges the government of Jamaica to study the appropriateness and possible benefits of enacting such legislation to give full protection to the identity of potential sources and witnesses and providing amnesty in order to allow their full testimonies. This, we hope, will establish some level of deterrence to would-be perpetrators, and (give) strong encouragement and confidence to others to expose acts of negligence and corruption within the public sector with the aim of having a better and more effective government for the people of Jamaica.”

According to Burke, after frank comments by the commissioner of police earlier this year about corruption and criminality within the ranks of the police force, and the call for whistle blowing legislation by the Jamaica Civil Service Association and human rights groups, it was full time the party take a position on the matter.

“It is important that people feel they can expose wrongdoing and not be penalised for doing so,” Burke said. “And once there is the law, it will be one that will give everyone the same rights.” Burke said.

The preamble to the resolution commended the party for enacting the Access to Information Act and for an open media policy. It also highlighted reports concerning allegations of negligence and/or corruption, some real and others false, within the public sector.

On Sunday, during his closing address to the conference, Prime Minister P J Patterson, who is also the PNP president, included in his administration’s list of achievements the establishment of:

. the office of the Contractor General;

. National Contracts Commission;

. Corruption Prevention Commission; and

. passage of the Access to Information Act.

But the government has been beset by instances of corruption, the most recent being at the National Solid Waste Management Authority on which the Contractor General has issued a damning report.

In response to that report, Opposition Leader Bruce Golding early last month listed the enactment of a whistle blower act among six proposals by the Jamaica Labour Party to address the “systemic problem” of persons flouting procedures and regulations designed to ensure integrity in the administration of public bodies.

The party also proposed:

. a special standing committee of Parliament to vet all proposed appointments to public sector boards;

. the discontinuation of appointing executive chairmen; and

. the restructuring and revitalisation of the Appropriations Committee of Parliament.

In addition, the JLP argued that Parliament needed to pass a bill tabled by Golding to amend the Contractor General Act to include statutory obligation on the part of public bodies to comply with established procurement procedures.

Golding’s bill provides for severe sanctions for breaches, and makes it unlawful to fragment contracts to avoid the scrutiny of the National Contracts Commission.

The opposition leader also renewed his call for a Prosecutor General with constitutional authority who would be protected from direction or influence from any source to whom information concerning wrongdoing can be directly transmitted.

Just over a year ago, Richard Calland, the executive director of South Africa’s Open Advice Democracy Centre, urged the Jamaican government to enact laws to protect local whistle blowers.

Calland, who was speaking at a seminar titled “Whistle Blowers Protection, Access to Information and the Official Secrets Act” hosted by the Carter Centre at the Knutsford Court Hotel in Kingston last May, said Jamaica’s implementation of the Access to Information Act was a solid start to a “monumental process of change from a culture of secrecy to one of openness”.

“Whistle blowers need protection so that they don’t suffer reprisal after having made the disclosure,” Calland added.