Jamaican watch-dog pushes politicians for clarity
(CNS): Greg Christie, Jamaica’s contractor general, has demanded clarity from politicians there about what it is they want from his office. In a frank, open letter addressed to the prime minister and opposition leader he has asked exactly what it is that the government wants from his office. Pointing to the country’s terrible reputation for corruption, the failure of successive governments to heed his recommendations and the recent courtroom battles against him by government, he asks them to decide once and for all if they want him to do his job or close down his office.
Christie pulls no punches in referring to the hypocrisies by politicians on both side and the efforts by a government minister to fight him in the courts about what the law entitles his office to do and what it does not. The contractor general also points out that the politicians are the ones with the power to make the laws so it’s up to them to clarify them and decide what it is that they actually want from his office.
In the seven page letter, the public official who is tasked with monitoring government contracts in Jamaica said that the time had come for the “Executive and Legislative arms of the Jamaican State to publicly clarify precisely what role,if any at all, the Office of the Contractor General (OCG) should play, within a national system of institutionalized and independent checks and balances, to ensure that Government commercial transactions will withstand the highest levels of scrutiny and probity.”
Pointing to the numerous recommendations he had made, none of which had been acted upon, Christie wrote:
“In the interim, and while, as a country, we appear to remain apathetic or unwilling to proceed in a decisive, deliberate and expeditious manner with the requisite reforms to the country’s good governance structures, and its anti-corruption institutional framework, Jamaica continues to be perceived, by the international commercial community, as well as by its bilateral and multi-lateral partners, as one of the most corrupt countries in the world.”
Obviously frustrated by the attempts by government to stop him from doing his job, Christie is forcing government and the opposition to declare their hand and either support good governance or close him down.
Asking the elected government to make up its mind about whether or not they want him to do his job, Christie demands clarity from both sides of the parliament and, in the face of government legal action against his office, in order to save tax payers money he asked them to make up their minds about having an office that monitors value for money and good governance or not.
See Christie’s letter below.
Category: World News
There is a reason why the Jamaican Gleaner dubbed the JLP and the PNP "the gangs of Gordon House". Their modus operandi is no different from that of the gangs who compete for lucrative illegitimate business and wreak havoc in the community with their lawlessness.
The former Jamaica Prime Minister Mr Bruce Golding on 12 May 2012 in a column for the Jamaica Observer entitled 'The Contractor General and Good Governance' noted: "Since its inception in 1983, we have had some dedicated and distinguished contractors general — the late Ashton Wright, Gordon Wells, Derrick McKoy and now Greg Christie. None has tackled the job with more vigour and tenacity than Greg Christie."
And he shared his personal view of Mr Christie: "I came to the view that Greg Christie is nobody's stooge and that he is a model of incorruptibility." I couldn't agree more; having got to know him over the past year, I've found him to be a brilliant, caring and courageous gentleman.
And so it is not surprising that both political parties have found it difficult to have Mr Christie on the bus when they get behind the wheel! Because they are primarily concerned with their own survival, they have had a distorted perspective of what Mr Christie should and should not be doing.
While a party is in opposition, it takes the view that he should be scrutinising everything that the party in power is doing. And when the pendulum swings and they gain the reins of power, they abruptly expect Mr Christie to stop looking at what the government-of-the-day is doing and look instead at what the former government did.
It is sad that Jamaica has wasted the tremendous contribution that this iconic individual could have made to the enhancement of its public administration and the eradication of the stench of corruption in its procurement and permitting activities. I am sure that both parties cannot wait for his term to be over and pray that his appointment will not be renewed for another 7 years.
We need to take note of the emergence of some of these same behaviours locally and recognise who our current leaders have chosen as their tutors.
If one reads Ashton Wright's memoirs "No Trophies Raised" (I hope I have gotten the title right), one sees that he too experienced pressure and downright corruption in trying to carry out his duties as Contractor General many years ago. Here in Cayman (I make no comment about anywhere else because saying "they are worse" is of no help to us) too many of our elected politicians think that because they are elected "by the people", this gives them the ultimate authority to disburse (this often means "waste" or "spend to ensure votes") public funds how they please with only a passing, impatient (or even contemptuous) nod towards good governance and accountability. The point made by Mr Donnie in his last paragraph is an important one. Let us all demand much much more of our political candidates in the next election than simply their Caymanian birth certificates, their ability to verbally berate each other and blame previous governments, their pandering to purely local "village" concerns over national ones, their passsing out of contracts and other favours to their supporters, their playing dominoes with us in the bars and their willingness to travel (with massive entourages) "for the benefit of these blessed Cayman Islands" to all the world's dangerous trouble spots like……………..China, Singapore, Spain, Sri Lanka, Kenya, Dubai, Hong Kong Thailand, Malaysia and a host of others. Ask them to explain, from their various political platforms, what they feel is meant by the term "good governance" and how, if elected, they would ensure it is implemented.
Sounds so familiar. Don't let politicians talk out of both sides of their mouth.
I like this guy….reminds me of our last 2 Auditor Generals….
Keep up the good work…..