#BTSpeakingOut- No experience necessary

The views and opinions expressed by the author(s) do not represent the official position of Barbados TODAY.

by Sean St. Clair Fields

The article Holding Government Accountable by Peter Webster, which was featured on pg. 17 of the Barbados TODAY December 14, 2021, edition, makes for some interesting reading.

Now, while some of his assertions appear to hold merit, to suggest that “the systems of checks and balances seems to be non-existent in Barbados because the civil servants who are supposed to be part of those checks and balances are no more accountable than the politicians they are supposed to be guiding”, is, to my mind, an oversimplification of a rather complex issue.

If we choose to accept that within the Barbadian public service, nepotism, favouritism, political affiliation and victimization are dominant characteristics no matter which administration holds power, then it should not come as a surprise when politically appointed square pegs are placed in positions to execute the politician’s requests notwithstanding that their experience and qualifications are insufficient for the post (s) that they have been appointed.
In reality, they are appointed because they will say yes to the politician’s requests when in the deepest crevices of their conscience, they would want to say no.

Why do they choose to say YES, when on a point of principle; when as is required by established protocols; when guided by their own ethics and morals, the answer should be NO? Maybe, the public servant just like anybody else has commitments, children to feed, shelter to maintain and chooses not to put their livelihood at risk for the sake of being honourable and accountable when they see firsthand the viciousness of repercussions imposed on those who tried to enforce the very checks and balances.

Recently, I read a commentary that intimated that Barbados is trapped in a wormhole of moral decadence and that we are truly in a battle for the very soul of our nation.

Just recently, the CDB’s President warned Caribbean governments about the deleterious effects of corruption, real or perceived, on our future social and economic prospects.
I think that as a nation we have been skirting the issue of accountability and transparency for quite some time (far too long). I continue to read and hear politicians on either side of the political divide speak eloquently about accountability and transparency, but as far as I am concerned, it is and will continue to be an “optics game” designed to provide voters with some semblance of hope that infelicities no matter where they occur across the sectors, will be held to account.

With each passing day, we hear about new laws aimed at addressing accountability and corruption, but yet we see little enforcement; we see no one before the law courts (unless the matter was adjudicated in another jurisdiction) for malfeasance or misappropriation of public funds.

But administration after administration we witness the scarce resources of government being channelled to the “pipers” and the loyalists, instead of to those who need it most. We continue to pay through our teeth, tax after tax, for services that are not effectively provided. We continue to see public officers being marginalized and threatened because they either took a stand or they were not politically connected.

I am sufficiently convinced now, more than ever before, that if you don’t have a politician’s or influential person’s number on speed dial, that working your way up the ladder through hard work, decency and honour inevitably becomes a wasted exploit because that’s not the prerequisite for the job.

Whether in the public or private sector, you only need to say YES, no matter what is requested of you. You don’t even have to be qualified or experienced, but the job is yours, so long as you say YES.

I aver, that unless we get serious as a nation and start doing what is right, what is honourable, what is just and not only what is politically expedient when we start fitting square pegs into square holes or as a friend puts it “choosing the right horses for the right courses”, it is with deep regret but I believe the accountability and transparency that we seek, will, according to the legendary Bob Marley “remain but a fleeting illusion to be pursued, but never attained”.