SOMETIME BEFORE I saw the 'Letter of the Day' (Friday, March 12, 2004) by Mrs. Doreen Ellis titled 'Bribes easier than paying traffic fines', I had been contemplating some of the reasons why corruption is so rife in Jamaica. Dishonesty and greed are root causes but governmental ineptitude must share culpability.
Mrs. Ellis' situation reminds me of a similar story told to me by an acquaintance. Her car was also being impounded because of an expired motor vehicle licence. However, unlike Mrs. Ellis, she lamented to the tow truck driver that she could not afford to go back and forth and pay all the fees and fines. He arranged with her to meet him opposite the Lyndhurst Road depot with a certain sum of money that was less than the official tow truck fee. She complied and had her car released, saving herself a great deal of time, money, harassment and the unnecessary, punitive rigmarole that would have consumed most of her busy day.
RAMPANT
We all know that corruption is rampant and permeates all sectors, professions and social classes. It runs the gamut from the simple clerk to the elected politician and bridges the economic divide between the financially downtrodden and the abundantly wealthy. Corruption is encouraged and exploited by the avaricious and devious who unfairly and illegally defeat the system for their selfish gains. It is also utilised by otherwise honest, upstanding citizens who suffer significant financial losses and experience the frustration of wasted hours or days trapped in a hellish government maze. Unscrupulous civil servants take advantage of the tangled red tape and difficult hurdles the Government puts in our paths. Thanks to 'the system' corruption has become a lucrative, deeply entrenched part of how our society functions every day.
Consider the KSAC, it is now trying to clean up its act, but word has it that the past corrupt practices of a few people within that organisation have allowed some contractors to flout the law and build without prior approval or proper inspection. A 'friend in court' would look after their interests. The KSAC has doggedly gone after an imposing and very expensive structure in St. Andrew in order to enforce the law and make the point that they are a no-nonsense entity. Should the building be destroyed, it will be a warning to others and promises to be so spectacular that one of our ex-Ministers of government announced his desire for a front row seat to the event.
We have fought corruption by trying to enforce stringent rules and regulations and by establishing Anti-corruption, Prevention of Corruption and Integrity Acts. Although it was called a reorganisation, many Customs officers who were ignominiously retired a few years ago remain convinced that it was an attempt at weeding out a few bad eggs. In the future I suppose we will set up sting operations but corruption will continue to be a vexing problem until we remove some of the reasons that it exists; governmental inefficiencies, tardiness, lassitude, excessive fees/fines and burdensome taxation.
DIMINISHING RETURNS
It's all about diminishing returns. The higher the fees, the more people will find ways around them. The more laborious and attenuated the process, the more people will buy favours to expedite matters. Many individuals and businesses lose thousands of dollars every day because applications, submissions and documents lay on someone's desk gathering dust.
The system ridicules and punishes those with integrity. In the early 1990s I had a certain matter resolved, all that remained was for it to be stamped 'discharged' by a Government officer. I was approached to 'let off something' but I refused and to this day have not received said document. Until a 'drink money' is no incentive for some to do their jobs properly, the greasing of palms will continue.
Until Road Code violations mandate traffic school and not just exorbitant fines, a few dishonest cops will flourish. Until every Government department is run so efficiently that deadlines are met and turnaround times minimised, people will continue to seek the path of least resistance, corruption. The real tragedy is this, in spite of everything, governmental superciliousness and inertia will continue to facilitate improbability.
Dr Garth A. Rattray is a medical doctor with a family practice.
