Robert Hart, Parliamentary Reporter
PRIME MINISTER P.J. Patterson yesterday argued that his administration had taken all the action it deemed necessary to "weed out" corruption within the State.
"We have institutions in place. If there are people who have information or evidence, what they must do is present them before the institutions or bodies that have been established," Mr. Patterson said during his post-Budget Debate press briefing at Jamaica House, yesterday.
But in the face of continuing charges of irregularities within public bodies such as the National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA) and the Sandals Whitehouse Hotel project, the Prime Minister also suggested that the regularly-voiced accusations of corruption were loose.
"Much of what is being mooted as corrupt really relates more to questions of efficiency in management and in some cases questions as to cost overruns and what may have caused them," he said.
PREPARED TO ESTABLISH NEW BODIES
But, Mr. Patterson, who failed to address Opposition concerns about corruption during his contribution to the 2005/2006 Budget Debate in Parliament on Tuesday, conceded that he was prepared to consider the establishment of new bodies, such as a prosecutor general's office, as suggested by Opposition Leader Bruce Golding.
"I am not prepared to rule out of consideration the creation of any office that may boost confidence in our ability to root out corruption," the Prime Minister said.
Mr. Golding had suggested during his own contribution to the Budget Debate, that the Government appoint a Prose-cutor General to investigate and charge persons who steal from the Government's coffers.
The Prime Minister noted, however, that there is already an auditor general, a corruption prevention commission, and an integrity commission which examine similar matters.
More than 90 per cent of persons polled by pollster Don Anderson of Market Research Services in February this year believed that corruption had increased during the past five years. The 1,000 persons, age 18 and over, told Anderson's team that the public sector accounted for more than 70 per cent of the corruption.
In addition, the German-based Transparency International, a corruption watchdog, has consistently given Jamaica a three on its corruption index. The rating runs from one (very corrupt) to 10 (least corrupt).
