Ministry of Finance & the Public Service

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Minister of Finance and the Public Service, the Hon. Audley Shaw (left), conferring with the Chairman of the Jamaica Association of Young Professionals (JAYP), Junior Rose, at the start of JAYP's annual leadership conference for young professionals at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel, New Kingston, on Wednesday (November 18).

Minister of Finance and the Public Service, the Hon. Audley Shaw, says he sees no reason to take issue with the 2009 Corruption Perception Index (CPI) published recently by Transparency International, which suggested increased corruption in Jamaica.

"I am not going to get into an argument with Transparency International, as to whether it is true that we slipped three places, or maybe we should have improved three places: That's neither here nor there," Mr. Shaw told Wednesday's opening ceremony of the Jamaica Association of Young Professionals' (JAYP) Leadership Conference at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel, New Kingston.

"The point is things bad in Jamaica when it comes to corruption. Things bad in Jamaica when I have to be reminding my people in the Tax Departments that they can't register cars illegally, and we have to be locking up people in our tax departments, and I am going to lock up more, too," the Minister said.

He stated that the threats to the integrity of national institutions like the tax and customs departments and the police force, which are inspired by corrupt individuals, "is a clear and present danger to the future of our country."

He noted that in some countries the situation was allowed to fester and got to the point where politicians, judges and the police were murdered for not following instructions.

He cautioned that if the danger is not confronted, it could become a threat to democracy and stability, "in terms of having a place where we can live and prosper, raise our families and not want to seek a one-way visa out of Jamaica." He said there was a need to lift up standards of personal conduct.

"We are operating in an environment where our standards, as a country, have been falling very, very badly and very, very precipitously," Mr. Shaw said.

He urged the young professionals to dedicate themselves to a "missionary drive" to get rid of corruption in Jamaica.

"If we don't do it, then those who can leave, will leave...It can be done, we must have the will to do it," he appealed to the conference.

Transparency International's new CPI has stated that Jamaica slipped from 3.1 to 3.0 (out of 10) in its ratings, and to #99 of the 180 countries ranked, a slippage which began when the country was ranked #57 of 133 countries in 2003 with a rating of 3.8

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