COUNTRY MAKING PROGRESS – DR TREVOR MUNROE
Kingston, August 25, 2010
Director of the anti-corruption group, the National Integrity Action Forum, Dr Trevor Munroe, says that the country had pulled back from a tipping point on the matter of corruption as state agencies are making progress.
Speaking at a meeting of the Public Relations Society of Jamaica in Kingston on Tuesday, August 17, Dr Munroe said “what we are seeing now, we have not seen in many, many years”.
He noted the 100% success rate by the Contractor General to have all Ministries report on the contracts that they have issued; the establishment of a Corruption Court at the Supreme Court level and the rejection of 170 police personnel on suspicion of corruption as compelling proof of progress.
Dr Munroe said, “The fact is by 2008, by plan as well as fortuitously, a number of public officials were in positions of importance who, clearly by their deeds, were demonstrating a determination to come to grips with this issue of corruption, and not least of all were the two whom I mentioned at the beginning of our talk: Danville Walker of Customs and Greg Christie of the Contractor General.”
Dr Munroe, who is also Professor of Government and Politics at the University of the West Indies (UWI), said that investigating and convicting high ranking officials for corruption was not uncommon in developed regions of the world, but the last such conviction in Jamaica happened 20 years ago. He said that the recent conviction of a senior police officer (now under appeal), the current trial of a Member of Parliament, and the recommendation of another Member of Parliament for charge were signs that law enforcement officials were prepared to deal with the most powerful in the land.
Noting the upcoming legislation regarding regulations for political parties, which he called private clubs, Dr Munroe asked public relations practitioners to remain alert.
“We need to plug the legal loopholes….I am asking you to keep your eyes very focused to the next few months on this issue of proposals to register political parties and to develop a regime of political party funding, and later on, of campaign financing….The proposals that are likely to come will represent a historic first step, but given the magnitude of the problem we face, I believe the proposals are likely to fall short of what is required in terms of disclosure to the people – who is giving how much to which political party.”
Dr Munroe said that by the end of the year, a Jamaica chapter of Transparency International, a global watchdog on corruption, will be established. He said that this Chapter will be able to develop a systematic approach to outreach and public education on the necessity of combatting corruption.
The Public Relations Society of Jamaica is dedicated to the practice of public relations in Jamaica, an expanding dynamic area that is now merging with commodity and social marketing, advertising, event planning, the business of sports and entertainment and
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CONTACT: Delmares White
President, PRSJ
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