THE GOVERNMENT cannot be serious about fighting corruption at every level in the society. How else can it explain the paltry salaries that have been approved for members of the Corruption Prevention Commission?
Senator Anthony Johnson, the Leader of Opposition Business in the Senate, must be commended for knocking the $600,000 salary for the chairman of the Commission and the $420,000 for each of the four other members.
In the Senate on Friday, Mr. Johnson noted that the approved salaries did not reflect the critical duties that the Commissioners would have to perform in investigating corruption in the public sector. He is right. Corruption is widespread in Jamaica. Law-abiding Jamaicans are sickened by the high levels of greed and corruption in the society and the Government must begin to demonstrate that it is serious about cleaning up the mess.
The job that the members of the Corruption Prevention Commission will have to do is full-time. Sifting through some 15,000 declarations by public servants and undertaking various investigations, is no easy task. Its members therefore must be paid a salary that is commensurate with what managers of their ability and integrity are earning directing the affairs of private corporations or running successful legal or other professional practices. They should not be worrying about their own financial security while at the same time undertaking a task that is so critical to the survival of this country. If we underpay our people of quality and probity who we expect to perform such important roles for the nation, we cannot expect them to remain in those jobs for long, earning merely a fraction of what they could, in the private sector.
We hope that Senator A.J. Nicholson, Q.C., the Minister of Justice, and the Attorney-General, will, as promised, continue to push for better salaries for the five Commissioners. If we do not seriously begin the task of rooting out corruption in every sector, our society will continue its backward slide into social and economic mire.
Prime Minister Patterson has always spoken out against corruption. He must demonstrate that he has a deep sense of mission to establish a clean and effective public sector. A strong and effective Corruption Prevention Commission, with properly paid members, is a step in the right direction.
Jamaica will progress only if we have a society where honesty, transparency and accountability in the public and private spheres is the norm. The Corruption Prevention Commission can play a significant role in this regard. We believe that its members have the strong convictions and determination necessary to defeat corruption. Let's arm them with the resources, including a decent salary package, for them to get on with their job of helping to create a just society, by seriously taking the fight to the corrupt.
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