SOME OF the society's most serious ills could be addressed by targeted social policies, says Oliver Clarke, The Gleaner's chairman and managing director.
Issues such as corruption, crime and absentee fathers could all be addressed if the Government adopts a more proactive approach. Mr. Clarke was the guest speaker at a Guardian Life product launch at the Hilton Kingston hotel in New Kingston, yesterday.
He said the perception is that corruption is "alive and well in Jamaica."
"It is a national disgrace that our anti-corruption enforcement is so dreadfully inadequate," he argued.
Mr. Clarke stated that checks and balances, which now exist, do not encourage the punishment of corruption or the reward of integrity.
FAILURE
He said the Commission for the Prevention of Corruption has been "an abject failure" as it has not been bringing the guilty to book.
He noted that there has been an improvement in the regulation of financial companies through the Bank of Jamaica and the Financial Institution Services (FIS). Government-owned companies should be obliged to follow the same procedures of improving transparency by publishing quarterly accounts and establi-shing audit committees to take responsibility for their financial practices.
He said the Government could also play a role in encouraging parents to send their children to school every day, suggesting that regular school attendance is beneficial to students and reduces the demand on expensive Government services.
According to Mr. Clarke, a forward-looking Government might consider using attendance records in the high school selection process and in determining the interest rate offered for educational loans so that a student with a near-perfect attendance record could get an interest-free loan.
Rewards for communities
To help stabilise families, special tax benefits could be provided for fathers who register their names on their children's birth certificates and subsequently provide them with financial support.
"Although this benefit could be seen as one-sided, I think there would be few mothers who wouldn't welcome the future security."
And communities which organise themselves to reduce crime could be rewarded with increased social spending, Mr. Clarke said. This would reward citizens on the basis of their civic responsibility rather than their political allegiance.
If crime was reduced, it could liberate funds to pay for improved schools, salaries and health care, he said.
"A government that does not give lots of resources to the process of reducing crime will never allow the country to reap the biggest public saving of all - the peace dividend," the publisher added.
