Dec 2014 Financial News

Poor showing by T&T on corruption index

Dec 04, 2014

T&T ranks at 85 and has maintained its low score of 38 on the latest Corruption Perception Index (CPI), Derrick Murray, chairman of the T&T Transparency Institute (TTTI) announced yesterday. Denmark topped the ranking with a score of 92 out of 175 countries.

Murray said: “T&T maintained the score of 38 although together with Jamaica our ranking dropped because other countries bypassed us. Barbados continued to be the top country in the Caribbean. T&T maintained a score below 50, below the average, and that tells a story.”

The latest Corruption Perception Index results were released during a news briefing at the Fernandez Industrial Centre, Laventille. Murray, who defined the use of corruption as the use of entrusted power for private gain, said T&T’s ranking should serve as a  wake up call. 

“The Government is not moving quick enough to expedite any of the legislation we need. TTTI is working with different and various civil society organisations to work and advocate for all those pieces of legislation and we need to be closely involved in trying to have those expedited. Legislation is one thing but it also needs to be enforced,” he said, adding that the survey is a tool used internationally to evaluate a country’s corruption levels or lack of it.

“Hopefully countries look at the group where there is lack of corruption. It ranks 175 countries of the world on the perceived level of corruption, particularly in the public sector. The CPI is presented on a scale of zero to 100, with zero for the most corrupt and 100 for a country perceived as having no corruption. 

“On the scale of zero to 100 more than two thirds of the countries are actually ranked below 50. That is a frightening statistic because it means we continue to have all our development issues clouded and tainted by corruption. We can throw out statistics to show that corruption cost about 25 per cent of any type of public expenditure. It is frightening,” Murray said. Victor Hart, vice chairman of the TTTI, said T&T should seek to develop its participatory democracy to bring the level of corruption down.

“We are only scratching the surface of participation by civil society. Thankfully we are seeing civil society waking up from its long slumber. The people of T&T are waking up from their slumber,” he said.

Afra Raymond, head of the Joint Consultative Council (JCC), said: “I was disturbed  at the story in the Guardian. A couple of big contracts were signed with energy companies here and they refused to give journalists details. The point is that the gains we have made, unless we are vigilant, it could be taken away.”

Source:
Rapheal John-Lall
Trinidad Guardian
Thursday December 4, 2014

http://www.guardian.co.tt/business/2014-12-04/poor-showing-tt%E2%80%88-corruption-index