THERE IS NEED FOR URGENT SYSTEM REFORM IN JAMAICA
IN 2015, the United States Government handed over 10 vessels, worth approximately US$1.5 million, to the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF). Perhaps the most newsworthy event with those boats has been that one was stolen – and eventually recovered.
The question as it pertains to strategic and maximum use of resources given to the Jamaican Government comes to the fore. While the public would not expect the JCF to disclose strategic operations, the question should be raised about whether the southern coast, especially, is properly covered.
Are the resources donated being effectively used? How many drug and/or gun shipments have been intercepted? How many guns being smuggled into the island have been intercepted? What is the level of corruption within the force as it pertains to officers allegedly connected with individuals in the illicit economy of narcotics trafficking? Are allegedly ‘known’ corrupt cops simply being moved around or reassigned rather than being forced out of the JCF and/or prosecuted?
BROUGHT TO JUSTICE
Transparency is the enemy of corruption. Corruption transfers resources from the general public to the elites and generally from the poor to the rich. It acts as an extra tax on citizens, leaving less money for public expenditures. Laws may set out fierce punishments, yet most bad deeds go unpunished. We can tinker with restructuring institutions or even our political system, or we can put political leaders in jail. But until the society reaches its breaking point and engages in holistic means of system reform, little will change.
Perhaps as we watch Brazil, mired in corruption scandals, investigations, the arrest and trials of former and current politicians, senior government officials and private-sector individuals for various acts of corruption, societies like Jamaica will hopefully see that in due time, corrupt officials who act with impunity, seemingly flouting the law, will be brought to justice. But does Brazil, like other developing and emerging market economies, epitomises the fish rotting from the head down, or is it corruption ingrained into the political culture of the society?