Bajan PM on Panday jailing

BARBADIAN Prime Minister Owen Arthur yesterday said the guilty verdict and conviction of former Trinidad and Tobago prime minister Basdeo Panday will affect the image of all Caribbean politicians and put them in a position where they must always do right.

In a Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC) report which quoted him in the Barbados Nation newspaper, Arthur added the fact that Panday was found guilty of failing to declare a London bank account to the TT Integrity Commission, “will have an impact on all Caribbean politicians” in terms of their image.

“It should put every Caribbean politician in a position where they should be scrupulous in their behaviour. Scrupulous meaning of course, that they will do that which is always right.”

Arthur said one of the great benefits of the court’s decision to jail Panday for two years, was that it reinforced the Caribbean society as a place where the system worked and sent the message that nobody was above the law.

“This is exactly how it should be and everybody should be held accountable for their behaviour.”

The Barbadian leader said he was not judging Panday, but a former prime minister being brought before the courts for a matter relative to a breech of the law, “if that is what the facts are, it is exactly how a Caribbean society is supposed to function.

“And we can draw comfort and strength from the fact that we do have a system that has been proven to be a system that works,” he said.

Arthur said he believed the decision would rekindle calls in Barbados for similar integrity legislation to govern public officials. “It is one of those things that has gone on the back burner...Not being facetious, the kind of corruption you hear about in other places, I don’t truly believe is the case in Barbados.

I am not offering an excuse here, but the edge has gone off it because our system works too, and I believe that by and large the Barbadian politicians on all sides have been honest,” Arthur said.

He added: “I can’t swear because I’m dealing with human nature, but I think you will find that most former ministers are not people who accumulate wealth through politics.”

He said former prime ministers have also not been wealthy either in or out of office.

Meantime, CMC also reported Chester Humphrey, who represents the labour movement in Grenada in the Senate, as saying that the jailing of Panday should send a strong message to regional politicians.

Humphrey said: “too many people have come into politics and turned rich overnight by stealing from the State, by converting and using their positions to unlawfully and in some instances unethically convert their positions into one of financial gains.

“Politicians must begin to understand that to serve in public service is an honour and is not a route to quick enrichment,” he added.

“One can’t use the opportunities created by the virtue of holding public office to corruptly or otherwise enrich themselves,” said Humphrey.

Panday was fined $20,000 on each of the three counts of failing to declare his assets in the years 1997, 1998 and 1999.

In default he will serve three years.

He was also sentenced to two years hard labour. He has since appealed the matter and is at the Maximum Security Prison in Arouca.

His attorneys will today again try to get him out on bail before a judge in chambers at the Port-of-Spain High Court.