CATEGORY:LEGISLATION
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By Trevor Thwaites
Inside Grenada correspondent
Sunday December 10,2006


ST.GEORGE’S, Grenada - The Grenada Government says that it is making great strides in the fight against corruption in public life. A release from the Department of Human Resources (DHR) in the Prime Ministers’ Office, says that it has demonstrated its commitment by ratifying the Inter America Convention against Corruption. The Convention has as its aim, the promotion and strengthening of mechanisms to combat corruption in member states and strengthen cooperation among them.

The Integrity in Public Life Bill and The Prevention of Corruption Bills have been tabled in the Grenada Parliament. They were patterned after the OECS and CARICOM models. Corruption and Integrity in public life are hotly debated in the region today, which has been regarded among the worst corrupt nations in the world. The 2006 ratings of The Transparency International Index put Grenada at no. 66 on the list along with Cuba and Belize as countries with a bad rating.

Barbados is the best regional country listed at number 24. The action of public officials, governmental bodies and citizens are increasingly coming under scrutiny. There are widespread debates about the way that institutions and citizens should behave in public life, with issues relating to conflict of interest, the limits of servicing the public, honesty, bribery, receipt of gifts and impartiality being highlighted.

The release from the Department of Human Resources said that the Integrity in Public Life Bill and The Prevention of Corruption Bill seek to uphold the principles of right and wrong in the behaviour of public officers and the general public to provide adequate accountability, thus promoting good governance. It says that the bill will be beneficial to the country, because it will have guiding principles for public officers to follow, enhancing the security of the nation and spare public officials embarrassment.

The bill is also intended to increase public confidence in government and the public service in general, improve transparency and accountability of public officials, and act as a deterrent of officers contemplating wrong doing. Under the legislation, an Integrity Commission will be set up to receive, examine, and retain all declarations, make inquires and investigate complaints, investigate the conduct of public officers, examine the practices and procedures of public bodies, instruct, advise and assist heads of public bodies of changes in procedures, carry out education programmes to better understand standards and integrity.

Agriculture minister and Deputy Prime Minister, the Hon Gregory Bowen, said at a recent press conference in St George’s that the government was very concerned about the Transparency International Index, which ranks Grenada among the most corrupt countries in the English speaking Caribbean. He said the government is doing all in its power to promote a corruption free society with the tabling in parliament of the Integrity in Public Life Bill and the Prevention of Corruption Act.