Jamaica is seen by those here and overseas as an inherently corrupt society and the PNP which has lead Jamaica for the last 21 out of 25 years must accept a significant part of the blame for this.
If as a leader you run an organization and year after year, with the exception of a few the authority on transparency and corruption says your organization is more corrupt than the year before, what does it say about your stewardship. It means you (the leader) is corrupt, the people who works as a part of your team is corrupt and the entire organization is or support corruption.
Every PNP administration in post independence Jamaica has been characterized by corruption, with the PJ Patterson era being the worst. If as a people we truly dislike corruption, which in most cases results in significant loss of tax payers money, how does one explain the PNP winning elections after elections despite it being seen as a corrupt organization ? The answer is not that the people see the JLP as more corrupt , in fact its the reverse. They see the PNP as the one to allow corruption to flow and in the process they get to “eat a food”.
In order for this to have occurring,corruption had to be institutionalized and a structure had to be in place to support it, allowing it to go on and on and persons must get benefits in the process.
This leads me to the public sector and is where the support structure for real corruption and corrupt practices exist. Over the last 21 years this sector has been stuffed with PNP operatives who have either been rewarded for their contributions to the party or is a integral part of the corruption support structure. They have been placed in key positions in the public sector, from where they have been allowed to fill the rest of those organization with PNP supporters and or sympathizers . These folks are now institutionalized in these organizations and are there for one reason only and that is provide unwavering support to the PNP regardless of which party is in power.
These folks are not about nation building, there are not about seeing Jamaica moving forward regardless of who is in power, instead they are solely focused on ensuring PNP either retains power and if they have been unfortunate to lose, then their job it to ensure they regain power.
If the JLP or another other political organization is to get lucky and win a national election, they have to contend with a politicized public sector where the overwhelming majority supports the now opposition PNP. This is a untenable position to be in , as not only are you subjected to inefficiency you are likely to face serious sabotage as many of these folks have lost focus on what there real job was supposed to be and that is nation building.
Should you therefore move to get rid of them for their failure to do their job and or handle matters of confidentiality, you will have the powerful PNP affiliated unions bawl out about political victimization and that is enough to stop the new leaders from doing the right thing.
So does that mean we will never bring an end to corrupt practices in the public sector and the PNP will continue its winning ways and keep the corrupt support structure in place, the answer is no.
There are two ways to address this and the key one is performance contract for those on contracts and Key Performance Indicators for those who are permanent employees. You either hit the performance targets set out in your contract or you go and the similar thing would exist for permanent employees.
The other aspect is confidential agreements signed by persons in key ministries where confidentially is paramount. You cannot for example have a person on the ministry of finance passing on key confidential documents on deliberations to the others on a consistent basis, without any actions being taken against that person.
So to break the back of corruption one must dismantle the support structure and by doing so you would have also done irreparable damage to the various groups that allows corruption to flourish in Jamaica
Less Corruption = Less PNP
Less PNP = Less waste
Less waste = more money to do the things that needs to be done
Combine all the above and finally Jamaica will be able to see consistent and sustainable growth
If we refuse to change direction we all are doomed
Courtesy : Jamaica Gleaner
Filed under: Corruption, Politics |
Warren's Blog 
The 75th annual conference confirms that comrades are inherently corrupt, just listen the interviews of the people.
Corrupt comrades threaten to disrupt operations at Spaldings market
as they protest the resignation of their corrupt MP.
Jeff, I think you should read this one .
Jay tells all lies. Under the PNP we have experienced lower levels of corruption year over year, less waste and better economies of scale, resulting in a brighter future for Jamaicams. Weh mek nuff people eat-a-food, even bad mind labourite Jay who want all the food for himself. Why are labourites so selfish?