Nicholson Vernon Daley, Staff Reporter
SENATORS YESTERDAY raised concerns about the salaries for members of the Corruption Prevention Commission, arguing that the compensation was too low and would send the wrong signal about the importance of the body.
The Senators also inched towards a consensus that parliamentarians should come under the ambit of the Corruption Prevention Com-mission, rather than be subject to a separate Commission, as is now the case.
Attorney-General, Senator A.J. Nicholson, said that the compensation for the five Commissioners was inadequate and reassured his colleagues that he would be working to improve the sums.
"I will continue to push," he said during debate on a resolution on the salaries. "Those Commissioners should be properly paid, if we expect them to do the kind of work they are intended to do."
The resolution, which was subsequently approved by the Senate, will see the chairman of the Commission getting $600,000 per year, while the other four members will each take home $420,000 per annum.
Leader of Opposition Business, Senator Anthony Johnson, also knocked the salaries, saying they did not reflect the critical duties which the Commissioners would have to perform in investigating corruption in the public sector.
"One must consider the signal one sends to people...when you pay them pittance," he added.
Under the regulations for the Corruption Prevention Act (2000), public servants earning $2 million and above, as well as those who occupy specified posts in the public service, will be required to file declarations. All members of the Jamaica Constabulary Force and the Jamaica Defence Force will be required to file declarations to the Commission.
Some 15,000 public servants were due to file their declarations by April 30 this year. The Commission has, reportedly, sorted through 8,742 of these and has requested additional information from some 1,689 persons.
Opposition Senator Bruce Golding, in his contribution, resurrected his long-standing concerns about the existence of a commission to investigate public servants and another to probe corruption among parliamentarians.
"I maintain that two separate commissions is wasteful," he said, arguing that this also had the effect of setting up parliamentarians as a privileged group.
Currently parliamentarians are required to file annual declarations to the Integrity Commission, which was set up in 1973 to ensure the integrity of legislators.
Responding to Senator Golding's concerns, the Attorney-General said that he was in favour of one commission that would serve both parliamentarians and public servants, especially against the background of a consistency in the legislation governing the two bodies.
"The time might very well be here, that we should have one commission," Senator Nicholson said.
