#BTColumn – Just do it the right way!

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by this author are their own and do not represent the official position of the Barbados Today Inc.

by Guy Hewitt

On Tuesday, Parliament approved a supplementary to the 2021/22 Estimates of just under $35 million. Just over $22 million was to reimburse various Government agencies for the expenditure incurred from the clean-up of La Soufriere ash fall, with $10 million to the Prime Minister’s Office.

I, like most Barbadians, am thankful that in the face of our worst recession and possibly highest unemployment levels in recent memory that assistance is being given to struggling households due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

However, I hold to John Wooden’s dictum, “It isn’t what you do, but how you do it.” The former coach and leadership guru conveys a simple yet profound message: how you do something can often override what you do.

The appropriation of $10 million in social assistance funds by the Prime Minister’s Office for her adopt our families programme, when we have a Ministry of People Empowerment and Elder Affairs which includes the Welfare Department, National Assistance Board and Poverty Alleviation Bureau, reeks of populism and despotism.

At this time of economic hardship, the Prime Minister should not lord over the authority of her line ministers especially with an oversised Cabinet (aka wardrobe) and with the populace wondering what her multitude of ministers do.

With taxpayers buckling under excessive taxes and levies, we deserve information regarding the $22 million spent on the clean-up campaign. We deserve to know who got what, when and how. I have stated publicly that for me, integrity is not merely a word or concept but a way of life.

Let me state up front that I am not accusing the PM or anyone in her administration of corruption or wrongdoing. But in public life one must be mindful of the perceptions of the citizenry and conduct public matters in the utmost transparent manner.

In 2017, I had the opportunity to visit Singapore’s Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB). The director provided a briefing on the city-state’s zero-tolerance
for corruption.

He emphasised their holistic approach to fighting corruption; no distinction is made on whether it is petty corruption or high-level corruption, whether public or private sector.

In Singapore, no exceptions are made for anyone and there are no ‘grey’ areas where corruption cannot be dealt with. The head of anti-corruption advised of their ‘double-lock’ system: the director reports directly to the prime minister except when investigating the prime minister; in such circumstance he reports directly to the president.

Singapore’s framework of corruption control rests on four pillars – their 4As: effective anti-corruption acts (or laws), an effective anti-corruption agency; effective adjudication (or punishment), and efficient Government administration. However, political will is the foundation upon which the anti-corruption structures is built.

The Singaporean government has matched words with deeds. They have mobilised the public and the entire civil
service to fight corruption. I believe, especially given what I consider to be escalating despotism, the same commitment to action is necessary in Barbados.

I was moved last year when I read that the Sandy Lane Charitable Trust (SLCT) announced that it would provide $1.5 million to help families impacted by COVID-19. The SLCT Feed a Family Programme provided disadvantaged families throughout the island with vouchers to purchase groceries (not alcohol and tobacco) at selected supermarkets. Then I read the fine print.

The programme was not launched in an impoverished community or Sandy Lane as one would have expected but at Ilaro Court.

Further, they assigned the full amount of $1.5m in food vouchers not to the Ministry of People Empowerment and Elder Affairs which already has a list of those most vulnerable, or religious organisations, or community groups already involved in such outreach. It was surrendered to elected politicians.

This is not a criticism of SLCT for I know the leaders to be persons of integrity and I know of their support otherwise in the past. Also, they did seek transparency stating that, each “MP has to tell us a name, how many kids, the area the person is coming from…” But to relinquish it to Government MPs in this prevailing political climate was a huge risk. As I said earlier, it isn’t what you do, but how you do it.

Last month, Ryan Straughn, Minister in the Ministry of Finance, got stuck with the dubious task of trying to convince Barbadians that the $124 million invested in Four Seasons was not being written off by the current regime because the prime minister was the lawyer involved in the project that Avinash Persaud ran.

Straughn suggested that the prime minister “had not been part of any discussions by Cabinet to write off the money as she had recused herself.” But seriously?

If the prime minister as minister of finance approves all finance submissions to Cabinet, as chair of Cabinet approves all papers, and as prime minister appoints and disappoints all ministers, how in tarnation does anyone expect Bajans to accept Mr Straughn’s submission without questions being asked?

We have long been an independent, thinking, politically aware people. As I said before, it isn’t what you do, but how you do it.

May the Lord continue to be the people’s guide.

Guy Hewitt announced his candidature for the leadership of the DLP. He currently lives and works between Barbados and Florida and can be contacted at guyhewitt@gmail.com