Opposition Leader, Bruce Golding - RUDOLPH BROWN/CHIEF PHOTOGRAPHER
LEADER OF the Opposition Bruce Golding is calling for clear and specific guidelines to be laid down to ensure that there is "no overlap, confluence or interconnection" between people's private interests and the authority or influence they exert by virtue of their appointment to public bodies.
In a statement yesterday, Mr. Golding charged that the recent example of an association between Dr. Vin Lawrence, chairman of the Urban Development Corporation (UDC), and a Bahamas-registered company whose subsidiary was subsequently engaged in multi-million dollar Government contracts is not an isolated case.
INTERLOCKING DIRECTORSHIP
Golding said there have been persistent reports of interlocking directorships involving public sector entities and private companies with which they do business.
He lamented the fact that there are no procedures or regulations to prevent such interconnections, to remove and sanction those engaged in such "circular" transactions or even to require transparency and public scrutiny.
Mr. Golding noted that the Constitution stipulates that a Member of Parliament shall automatically vacate his/her seat if he/she becomes a party, directly or indirectly, to a contract with any government entity unless he is specifically exempted by affirmative resolution.
TRANSPARENCY
However, Golding points out that this provision does not apply to persons occupying positions of chairman and chief executive officer of public entities, some of which routinely award billions of dollars in contracts each year for the supply of goods and the provision of services.
Many of these contracts, he said, reek of conflict of interest.
The Opposition Leader said it was necessary to ensure that a similar process of transparency and public scrutiny is also applied to persons who are not Members of Parliament, but who exercise considerably greater authority and influence and have control over vastly greater amounts of public funds than most Members of Parliament and even some ministers of Government.
