Clarke: Need for Contractor General
A call has been made for a contractor general who will have power to look at contracts – even those being issued by government to the private sector – to determine their true value, so as to ensure that there are no corrupt practices taking place when contracts are locally issued.
The call came recently from Deputy Speaker of the House of Assembly and Member of Parliament for St. George North, Gline Clarke, who was at the time speaking on the Integrity in Public Life Bill, 2018 in Parliament this week.
“It is a known fact that the public points their finger at politicians. They point their finger at persons in public life. But what about those persons who are not in public life, but are in the private sector? What happens to those persons in the private sector who obtain large sums of wealth through unfair competition, who obtain large sums of money through quoting for contracts? This is important, because we had asked years ago that the government establish a Contractor General, who determines what is the value of
some contracts,” Clarke remarked.
He added, “It is a known fact that a lot of contracts are offered by government and the private sector sometimes, worth many more times than what the value is. Who determines this? This is where the corruption steps in.
“I am aware that especially in the last administration, that sometimes you cannot understand it, it cannot be justified why a contract for a simple operation is so expensive. It boggles the mind,” he said.
He meanwhile noted that politicians in particular have to be careful about how they operate and ensure that their dealings are above board.
“I have been a member of this Parliament for over twenty-five years now and one of the things we learned in the Barbados Labour Party years ago, is that we must always be very sceptical in accepting gifts in the form of money or in any kind, from people who may set out to offer us these things. It is important for us therefore to establish a Commission, and as members have said, it has come at a time when we are under scrutiny. The world is watching us at this time,” he stated.
“In fact, many third world countries across the world are being observed for practices, because there are people who believe that in small island states such as Barbados, you can get away with anything. It is a known fact that most developed societies, especially in the Western world – Great Britain and Canada, the USA – have systems in place to be able to detect and to treat to these matters. And we have to establish today a Commission that will be independent of the political arena, that will look at practices that are known and unknown, and we have to be very careful as we go about our daily business,” Clarke said.
(RSM)