Dear Editor,

I have just completed the annual exercise for certain public servants to file annual statutory declarations of assets and income with the Commission for the Prevention of Corruption in accordance with Section 12 (2) of the Corruption (Prevention) Act 2000.

Every year, since I became eligible due to my salary and allowances to file such returns, it has been a frantic scramble to complete the form by the stipulated deadline of March 31. Every year, as I pay the fees to get copies of financial statements and as I burn petrol going from institution to institution, I vow every year that I will start the process earlier so as to avoid the last-minute rush.

This year, as I completed the form with the Manatt Enquiry playing in the background (the irony of which did not escape me), I was astonished to see that for the last few years since I have been earning more than $2 million dollars annually (and this is barely above that!), my financial situation has not changed. My investments have dwindled; no doubt due to reduced interest rates after the JDX, or it may be that I have had to dip into my meagre investments on more than one occasion to meet monthly grocery and utility bills. The age of my car keeps moving up and has it really been 15 years since I bought my starter apartment? In the meantime, I have resigned myself to be audited this year as the amount in my savings account is enough to make the relevant officials shake their collective heads in disbelief.

As I bemoan my situation, I shudder to think how public servants — earning less than $2 million annually and who have been denied salary increases like myself — are surviving, much less finding money to invest.

I will now have to contemplate my options. I have gone ahead, however, and obtained a new form and have begun filling in my annual returns for next year. I am willing to bet little or nothing will change.

Amy Dale

Kingston