The Government remains committed to the against corruption and is supportive of anti-corruption investigations.
This assurance was given by Minister without Portfolio in the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) with responsibility for Information, Robert Morgan, when he addressed the virtual post-Cabinet press briefing on Wednesday (February 9).
“Between 2016 and now, I think Jamaica has seen the most significant transformation, from a legislative perspective [and] from a funding perspective, of our anti-corruption institutions,” he said.
Mr. Morgan was responding to a question on how Jamaica is perceived on Transparency International’s corruption perception index.
He pointed out that the Government promulgated the Integrity Commission Act and created a system for an independent body to oversee the Integrity Commission. He added that Government has consistently provided funding necessary for the Commission to do its work.
“You would also note that significant work has been done to empower the Major Organised Crime and Anti-Corruption Agency [MOCA] as an independent entity, and that came through Parliament to allow it to do investigations,” he said,
Mr. Morgan emphasised that based on conversations and knowledge he has of what takes place in the Parliament, there has not been any resistance to the fight against corruption.
He pointed out that as the law stipulates, entities are empowered to make recommendations and Parliament has the power to assess those recommendations.
However, in a democratic society, he said, it would not be reasonable to conclude that Parliament must accept all recommendations from various entities.
Mr. Morgan explained that Parliament has a committee that receives and analyses recommendations, consults with other members in the House, citizens and civil society groups, “and then eventually will come to a reasonable conclusion as to whether to accept the recommendations or not”.
“There has been no hinderance by the Government of any anti-corruption investigation by any constituted authority,” he emphasised.
