Integrity in public affairs

The Collins English Dictionary defines “integrity” as the adherence to moral principles and honesty.

The Integrity in Public Life Act No 83 of 2000 provided for the establishment of the Integrity Commission to make new provisions for the prevention of corruption of people in public life by providing for public disclosure, to regulate the conduct of people exercising public functions, to preserve and to promote the integrity of public officials and institutions, and for matters incidental thereto.

Everyone in public life is required to file a declaration of income, assets and liabilities with the commission.

The schedule to the Act lists the people in public life as follows: (1) Members of the House of Representatives; (2) ministers of government; (3) parliamentary secretaries; (4) members of the Tobago House of Assembly; (5) members of municipalities; (6) members of local government authorities; (7) senators; (8) judges and magistrates appointed by the Judicial and Legal Service Commission; (9) members of the boards of all statutory bodies and State enterprises; (10) permanent secretaries and chief technical officers.

On May 21, 2016, the Integrity Commission issued a list of the names of more than 1,400 people in public life who had failed to file their declarations with the commission for the period 2003 to 2014 as required by the Act.

The list was published in the Express on May 24, 2016, the Guardian on May 25, 2016, and the Newsday on May 27, 2016 and included several current and former government ministers.

Three former mayors were also named.

The commission had notified defaulters that it intended to make ex parte application to the High Court for orders directing such people to comply with the Act, and for the imposition of such conditions as it thinks fit.

A person who failed to comply with the directions of the court commits an offence and is liable, on conviction, to a fine of $150,000.

Since the publication of the list of defaulters, some of the people named have complied with the Act. However, since July 19, 2016, there has been no published update on this matter by the Integrity Commission and I assume that everyone has complied.

Were these officials unaware of the requirements of the Integrity in Public Act? How does the world view Trinidad and Tobago’s performance with respect to its integrity in public affairs? The 2015 Corruption Perception Index of Transparency International rates Trinidad and Tobago as 72nd in the world with a score of 39 out of 100. A “failed score”. But there is worse.

The 2016 Corruption Perception Index gives Trinidad and Tobago a score of 35 out of 100.

This reduces us from No 72 in 2015 to No 101 in 2016.

I am utterly ashamed and emba r - r a s s e d by this u n a c - ceptably poor performance and so s h o u l d you.