RETIRED army colonel, Trevor MacMillan, has been given the task of helping the Bruce Golding administration carry out its promise to weed out corruption and protect the public purse.

MacMillan, whose appointment as a special advisor to the finance ministry was announced yesterday, is expected to assist the ministry with the passage of a revised National Independent Investigative Authority Act.

“This Act will be the best vehicle to achieve the twin objectives of overcoming corruption and protecting government revenue,” said a ministry statement.

Speaking with the Observer yesterday, MacMillan, who will also be helping to formulate and implement policies to enhance the Government’s revenue collection drive and root out tax evasion, said he had no discomfort with the appointment.

“I have no problem whatsoever; whenever I have been asked to serve my country I have done so,” he said.

According to MacMillan, who served as police commissioner in the 1990s and headed the Revenue Protection Division (RPD) for more than three years, the Government’s intense focus on stamping out corruption was a wise one.

“Most definitely, most definitely, corruption runs across the border of taxes; and a lot of the corruption involves money,” he said.

Last week, minister of finance and the public service Audley Shaw, hinted that “an important announcement on revenue protection would be made shortly”.

Minister without portfolio in the finance ministry, Senator Don Wehby, has also given his blessings to Colonel MacMillan’s appointment.

“I am very happy to have Colonel MacMillan on board at the Ministry of Finance,” Wehby said, adding that “his knowledge, experience, expertise and integrity will prove to be positive in helping this ministry and the Government to accomplish its objectives”.

While it was not clear from the release when MacMillan’s appointment would take effect, the former senator said this would be at the “discretion” of the respective minister.

In the meantime, he said the National Independent Investigative Authority Act, which is at this point a draft Act, is to be strengthened, eventually encompassing a number of agencies.