OCG-Gov't feud symbolises failure
Published:Monday | January 7, 2013 | 12:00 AM
THE EDITOR, Sir:
Jamaica is in a quagmire. And we're in deep. How do we know? When you have the Office of the Contractor General (OCG) referring the Cabinet to the director of public prosecutions (DPP) for criminal prosecution, that's how you know.
On January 2, 2013, the OCG formally referred the Cabinet of Jamaica to the DPP for criminal prosecution for their "collective failure to lawfully comply with several lawful requisitions of the contractor general".
Embarrassing is not even the word to describe this mess. The legal minds will continue to assess this scenario, but the fact that things have come to this is symptomatic of a broken society and broken governance. Dis nuh nahmal! Something is wrong!
We have 'celebrated' 50 years of Independence with a rift between the executive branch of government, and an office created by an act of Parliament to monitor the awarding of government contracts - an office that has come to represent transparency in a country where there seems to be so little.
In a broader context, then, we see clearly where we are as a nation, and we get a glimpse of the road taken to get here. We have tolerated corruption for too long. We have excused impropriety by government officials far too often. Justice has been delayed (and denied) in too many instances.
Instead of burying our heads in the sand, it's time we recognise that we are in a crisis. We need to speak out. If we are truly thirsty for change, we will have to acknowledge that we no longer reserve the right to remain silent in the face of governance that rapes our country's worth.
Our voice is our letters and phone calls to our members of parliament and ministers demanding proper representation. It's our editorials, letters to the editor, and comments on comment boards. It's our blogs. It's our Facebook posts and tweets. It's our calls to the various radio/television talk shows. It's our petitions. It's the coming together for legal, non-violent protests DEMANDING action. It's our vote.
Jamaica is in a quagmire. What are we going to do about it?
DURIE DEE
Toronto, Canada