By Lynford Simpson, Staff Reporter
Pantry
KENT PANTRY, Q.C., Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), has warned that he will prosecute delinquent parliamentarians who have failed to supply the Integrity Commission with their annual declarations, or who have refused to provide clarification on their financial dealings.
More than a dozen parliamentarians had their names submitted to the DPP last month after they had ignored repeated reminders from Parliament's Integrity Commission to provide the relevant information.
But yesterday, Mr. Pantry stressed that prosecution was not his primary goal. "It's not about prosecuting. I'm not that interested in prosecuting. But the law is designed to let us know what their annual declarations are and if there's any corruption," he said.
"If we prosecute and they still refuse to make a declaration, then we still do not have the information. (But) if they don't, I don't have any problem prosecuting them," he emphasised.
To prevent this from happening, Mr. Pantry told The Gleaner that he will be writing to the Commission this week to ascertain which, if any of the parliamentarians whose names were submitted to him last month, have since declared their hands.
Alvin Chong, secretary-manager of the Commission, told The Gleaner last month that the decision to go to the DPP was not aimed at getting parliamentarians prosecuted but to achieve a greater level of compliance.
Under the amended Parliament (Integrity of Members) Act, 2001, all parliamentarians, including Senators, are required to provide the Commission with a statutory declaration of assets, liabilities and income as at the date of election or appointment and thereafter as at December 31 each year.
The Commissioners have power to:
Summon witnesses, require the production of documents and to do all such things as they consider necessary or expedient to carry out their functions.
Receive and investigate any complaint against parliamentarians regarding acts of corruption.
Submit a report of a failure to furnish statutory declarations and the Commission's dissatisfaction with any aspect of a declaration or any enquiry conducted by it to the DPP or the Commissioner of Police, who may take such action in relation thereto as he thinks appropriate in any particular case.
Those who fail to declare their hand, submit misleading information or fail to attend an enquiry when asked to do so may, on summary conviction before a Resident Magistrate, be subject to a fine of up to $200,000 or a term of imprisonment not exceeding two years or both.
The annual declarations for some parliamentarians have been outstanding for up to 15 years. However, only those in breach at the end of December 2001, when the Act was amended, have had their names submitted to the DPP.
