My late mother taught my siblings and me many important lessons about how to “become somebody and achieve something in life”. One of the most profound lessons she taught us in this regard is that people should spend time (and other resources) on things that bring long-term value. So, the lesson was, if we value becoming better at something, we would spend time on it. My brothers and I could not talk about having girlfriends while we were teenagers; our parents thought, and taught us, that such undertaking was a misuse of children’s time.

The other side of this lesson is that we can know the things people value by how much time and other resources they spend on them. Thus, there is the time-honoured truth that the things for which we fight, the tasks we pursue, and the objectives in which we invest our resources as individuals, and as a country, reflect our value system.

An effective manager, whether in a company or the Cabinet of a country, is characterised by one chief quality — he/she gets things done. Noted management consultant Peter Drucker made this assertion in his seminal work, The Effective Executive: The Definitive Guide to Getting the Right Things Done. This classic was first published in 1966 and re-published in 2006. He states that to “get the right things done” involves undertaking those tasks which others overlook, or are afraid to do, as well as exercising the insight to discriminate between what is productive and what is not, what adds value and what does not, and investing oneself and the resources at one’s disposal to productive ends.

Among the things Drucker says are essentials for effectiveness are:

(i) knowing where and how to mobilise resources to achieve the best outcomes; and

(ii) setting the right priorities.

Jamaica’s fight against corruption, and the role played by the Government, specifically the Cabinet, and the Integrity Commission’s execution of its mandate reflect the things that the Government and the Integrity Commission value. Based on over a year of overwhelming evidence, it is abundantly clear that neither the country’s executive (the Cabinet) nor the executives at the Integrity Commission are committed to mobilising resources to achieve the best outcomes, and combating corruption is obviously not a priority for either. In short, the evidence shows that for neither the Cabinet nor the Integrity Commission, getting the right thing done does not mean an all-out assault on even a slow-burning fight against corruption.

The evidence

The most recent evidence which shows a lack of commitment to fighting corruption — which could be read as a form of effectiveness if the objective is to weaken the fight — is the pushing out [my words] of Dirk Harrison, the former contractor general and acting director of corruption prosecution.

Many people had publicly predicted that Dirk Harrison’s infamous but factual report on the $800-million de-bushing scandal would have cost him his job. Some of those same people, and others, had predicted that his report on the sale of the Rooms on the Beach resort was the nail in the coffin. It is to be recalled that when that report was published earlier this year the Integrity Commission effectively distanced itself from it.

At its virgin press conference in May 2019, the chair of the Integrity Commission spent about an hour discussing private employment issues concerning Harrison. In its annual report, the commission disclosed that it had not undertaken any corruption prosecution — despite there being several cases of corruption taking place in government. The report also disclosed that the commission was seeking to set up a committee to oversee the work of the Corruption Prosecution Division. This committee would “represent the interests of the commission” in matters being prosecuted by the division and would also prepare the reports of the division for the commission. In effect, while the director of corruption prosecution was, by statute, not answerable to any agency or individual in respect of decisions to undertake prosecution, the commission was setting up a mechanism that would restrain and supervise that functionary. Further evidence of the failure of the commission is that it did not undertake a single public education activity for an entire year.

The evidence of failure of the country’s executive (Cabinet) to mobilise resources to support the fight against corruption, and to make that fight a priority, is seen in the fact that some material requirements of the commission have not been addressed. This is seen, among other ways, in the fact that some posts were not filled, the remuneration to commissioners not settled, and the stunning fact that although the Integrity Commission Act was passed in January 2017, it was not until March 2018 that the commissioners were appointed.

The overwhelming evidence of executive effectiveness in thwarting the fight against corruption manifested in the ‘de-resourcing’ and destabilisation of the Integrity Commission; however, it is not unique to the Integrity Commission. A similar treatment has been meted out to the Major Organised Crime and Anti-Corruption Agency (MOCA). To date the MOCA legislation has not been passed, after having been in gestation for six years. In addition, MOCA is being starved of vital resources to do its work.

So, if the country wants to know how much value the country’s executive places on the fight against corruption, just look at the evidence; both at an individual and corporate level, to see that the things in which people invest reflect their priorities.

Activism or interference?

One of the narratives in the debacle on the sale of Rooms on the Beach is a reported statement by Minister Daryl Vaz to the Urban Development Corporation that if it faced any difficulty, they should let him know. I believe such a statement suggests the potential for ministerial interference.

I believe ministers can take active interest in the work being done under their portfolios without interfering. An effective executive gets things done, and one way of ensuring that things get done is by letting people know that you are awaiting results.

In the same way Vaz took an active interest in the sale of Rooms on the Beach property, Justice Minister Delroy Chuck and/or the prime minister ought to have been bothering the Integrity Commission about moving on with its mandate and getting things done. Both should be ensuring that financial and other material resources are provided in a timely manner, and in adequate amounts, and that positions are filled. Neither can escape the question of whether their attitude towards the corruption agenda, contributed to, if not being responsible for, the untimely departure of Harrison.

The prime minister has been placing the National Works Agency in the spotlight in relation to its supervision of infrastructure projects and the need to ensure that these assets remain in good condition for decades. That is all well and good, but the prime minister’s decision-making is a major contributor to why the results for which he is asking will not be realised. In a hearing before Parliament in 2018, E G Hunter, head of the National Works Agency, admitted that the task of supervising the multiple projects being undertaken in the Corporate Area had placed the agency under excessive strain. He admitted that it was simply not possible to give each project the level of supervision required. The country was told that the Mandela Highway project would have been finished by Christmas 2018. That deadline has been missed by almost a year. Despite repeated covering and digging up of Washington Boulevard, in the vicinity of Duhaney Park, a section of that road is now sinking.

While the outcomes of these project are, in part, attributable to the technical competence of the subcontractors and to the number of officers the National Works Agency has available to supervise, I submit that the bulk of the blame must go to the executive who made the decision to undertake these multiple projects simultaneously.

That which the prime minister valued, perhaps above everything else, was the political optics of an economy on fire, and the decision to do all projects at once reflects that value.