Corruption Commission to become instrument of Parliament
May 10, 2006
The Cabinet is to decide on making the Corruption Prevention Commission an instrument of Parliament, Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller announced yesterday.
"This should be so. because the Corruption Commission oversees all the ministries and agencies, including the Ministry of Justice to which it now reports," Simpson Miller said in her maiden budget presentation as head of the government.
Simpson Miller made the announcement in response to a call from Opposition Leader Bruce Golding last week for changes in the operations of the Commission.
Golding, in his budget speech last Thursday, had pointed to understaffing and inadequate funding as two factors affecting the Commission and urged the prime minister to correct the problems.
But yesterday, Simpson Miller said that even before Golding had spoken, the government had proposed to make changes to the way the Commission functions.
"Today," she said, "I am pleased to announce that Cabinet, before the end of this month, will consider making the Corruption Prevention Commission a creature of Parliament just as the Integrity Commission and the Ombudsman."
The Commission for the Prevention of Corruption was appointed on May 1, 2001 under the Corruption Prevention Act 2000 to prevent corruption in the public sector mainly through the annual declaration of assets by the almost 17,000 public servants.
Author: Observer Reporter
Source: Jamaica Observer
