Garth Rattray
WHY DO we continue to play these silly games? Is anybody genuinely surprised by the Contractor General's findings regarding the failure of several government agencies to comply with the rules governing the awarding of contracts?
Obviously some agencies habitually and conveniently ignore proper procedures for the sake of expedience but couldn't it also be done in the furtherance of political power (by controlling scarce benefits and spoils)?
Breaking the rules opens the door to the possibility of corrupt practices that allow many individuals and companies to make an excellent living at our expense. People do not want to see their tax dollars involved in anything that could be interpreted as political favours or pay-offs and this is one reason why so many individuals become tax-dodgers.
As a result of this so-called "revelation", the People's National Party Youth Organisa-tion went into "poly-tricks" mode and described the recent findings as "alarming and unacceptable". Oh please! Nobody should feign shock and consternation in this matter, nor should they go hunting for sacrificial lambs and scapegoats. With this in mind, I certainly do not agree with their call for the resignation of the Mayor of Kingston, Desmond McKenzie.
BREAKING PROCUREMENT RULES
Maybe my job has endowed me with more than a modicum of pragmatism, but breaking the procurement rules has been part of the standard operating procedures in some quarters since time immemorial and has involved officials from both parties. Mr. McKenzie should not be made to pay for the sins of all his predecessors. His propensity for overzealousness aside, he is the hardest working mayor to date and will be a hard act to follow.
APOLOGY
By profusely apologising and stating openly that the rules were breached "for the betterment of the municipality", he has demonstrated himself to be a master politician and not scapegoat material. He also stated categorically that the practice is "institutionalised" and contritely confessed that the precedent was set many years ago by those who came before him, thus proving that he's no sacrificial lamb.
It seemed to me that the flouting of the rules governing the awarding of contracts were being condoned and/or ignored and I somehow got the impression that last year, when Mrs. Portia Simpson Miller (then Minister of Local Government) commissioned probes into the procurement procedures of the Kingston and St. Andrew Corporation, the Portmore Municipality, the Sports Development Fund and the Social and Development Commission, it was perhaps done to prove that the National Solid Waste Management Authority wasn't the only government entity breaching proper procedures.
I also found it strange and somewhat troubling that it took a directive from Mrs. Portia Simpson Miller for the Contractor General to launch a probe; isn't that what he's supposed to do on a regular basis? Shouldn't it be safeguarding the taxpayer's money and ensuring that such breaches never occur in the first place, red tape or not?
ENLIGHTENED SELF-INTEREST
In my opinion, much of our politics is based upon enlightened self-interest. Many people, from the dirt poor (let off something) to the filthy rich (one hand washes the other) posse, depend heavily on handouts and contracts for their survival. And, although the mayor tried to justify the breaches as a little wrong done for the greater good (my words), the fact remains that circumventing the in-built and prescribed checks and balances within the system lends itself to corruption.
The Government must rationalise its prohibitively "restrictive bureaucratic impediments" (quote à la Mayor McKenzie) and set irrevocable standards of transparency, propriety and efficiency if it is to gain the trust and cooperation of its citizenry.
Dr Garth A. Rattray is a medical doctor with a family practice.
