Dear Editor,
In quick response to swirling arguments about his proposal to purchase a house, People’s National Party Deputy General Secretary Julian Robinson made public his assets to quell all arguments. Howzat!!
For too long Andrew Holness has allowed the festering innuendos about his personal finances and the construction of his home to remain in gossip corners along the highways and byways.
Holness promised to make a declaration of his assets by March 31, 2016, yet to date has not fulfilled such promises. Howzat, Holness?!
To add insult to injury, and in Jamaican parlance “tek peeple fi fool”, Holness has now placed a caveat on his declaration, saying he has to consult with his party because his declaration may have implications on further declarations by other State officials.
All 84 lawmakers are bound by law and moral fortitude to make public their financial status, and it must be done without any caveat attached. For too long the public has allowed these lawmakers to hide under the cloak of a weak media and polarised public to hide facts that the general public ought to know.
How many lawmakers, past and present, have made their financial declarations consistently and timely over the past 10 years?
The private sector is equally culpable, as it continues to fund political parties whose candidates have failed to declare their assets.
The caveat I want to see attached to the declaration of assets is that a candidate, in any of the elections, general or local, must declare his/her assets no later than three months prior to nomination day to be eligible. Any individual nominated for the Senate must have his or her financials made public before he/she can be sworn in.
To boost compliance among the lawmakers I would recommend that at the beginning of each parliamentary year any member who is not up to date with his/her financial declarations for the previous year must be debarred from all sittings until such declaration is made.
If we as a country have all those caveats in place lawmakers like Holness could not have taken us, as a public, on this joyride of missed deadline and uncertainty as it relates to source of funds. If one looks at all polls over the past 10 years public perception of the integrity of our lawmakers are at an all-time low and getting lower.
Fernandez Smith
fgeesmith@yahoo.com
In quick response to swirling arguments about his proposal to purchase a house, People’s National Party Deputy General Secretary Julian Robinson made public his assets to quell all arguments. Howzat!!
For too long Andrew Holness has allowed the festering innuendos about his personal finances and the construction of his home to remain in gossip corners along the highways and byways.
Holness promised to make a declaration of his assets by March 31, 2016, yet to date has not fulfilled such promises. Howzat, Holness?!
To add insult to injury, and in Jamaican parlance “tek peeple fi fool”, Holness has now placed a caveat on his declaration, saying he has to consult with his party because his declaration may have implications on further declarations by other State officials.
All 84 lawmakers are bound by law and moral fortitude to make public their financial status, and it must be done without any caveat attached. For too long the public has allowed these lawmakers to hide under the cloak of a weak media and polarised public to hide facts that the general public ought to know.
How many lawmakers, past and present, have made their financial declarations consistently and timely over the past 10 years?
The private sector is equally culpable, as it continues to fund political parties whose candidates have failed to declare their assets.
The caveat I want to see attached to the declaration of assets is that a candidate, in any of the elections, general or local, must declare his/her assets no later than three months prior to nomination day to be eligible. Any individual nominated for the Senate must have his or her financials made public before he/she can be sworn in.
To boost compliance among the lawmakers I would recommend that at the beginning of each parliamentary year any member who is not up to date with his/her financial declarations for the previous year must be debarred from all sittings until such declaration is made.
If we as a country have all those caveats in place lawmakers like Holness could not have taken us, as a public, on this joyride of missed deadline and uncertainty as it relates to source of funds. If one looks at all polls over the past 10 years public perception of the integrity of our lawmakers are at an all-time low and getting lower.
Fernandez Smith
fgeesmith@yahoo.com