Watchdog group wants statutory declaration window for former parliamentarians extended

Watchdog group the Jamaica Accountability Meter Portal (JAMP) has recommended a three-year extension for the declaration of assets of parliamentarians who have left office. 

The recommendation was made during this morning's virtual sitting of the Joint Select Committee (JSC) reviewing the Integrity Commission Act, 2017. 

Currently, the Act requires a statutory declaration from a parliamentarian annually and up to a year after that official has left the post. 

Section 41(1)(a)(iii) outlines that a statutory declaration must be made for a person elected or appointed as a parliamentarian at the end of 12 months from the date on which he ceases to be a parliamentarian. 

JAMP executive director Jeanette Calder, in her submission to the committee, noted that it is unlikely that a recommendation for a five-year extension would be approved by Parliament and, as a result, has recommended a three-year extension. 

Calder told committee members that the reason for the recommendation is premised on a personal experience while she worked in government and was in charge of several housing developments on behalf of the Ministry of Housing. 

Calder recalled that a developer offered her a gift which turned out to be a service lot in the development he was completing. 

“I was a little surprised because I thought these were the kinds of things that happened at the beginning of the project to kind of solicit the most favourable terms in the contract to be negotiated,” she said, adding that the developer indicated that he was appreciative of the work done. 

She said that she politely declined. 

“He said to me, 'Oh, Ms Calder, you nuh know how it go? What you must do is take the lot and you put it in the name of a cousin. Make sure it's a cousin you trust because once you put it in them name you can't get it back',” she said. 

Calder said she was told by the developer that declining the offer was an offence because he had earmarked five service lots for agencies of government and could not have left out the Ministry of Housing. 

“So the idea that this developer was selling me is that I just had to wait it out for a year. He was already clear on what the legislation said. I'm saying to the extent that some of the act of corruption, whether a public official or parliamentarian, often amounts to grand larceny, not theft,” she said. 

Committee member Marlene Malahoo Forte then interjected, quizzing Calder on the steps taken after the offer was made to her. 

The JAMP executive director said that she reported every offer received in her then capacity to the ministry's permanent secretary. 

She said the developer was not reported because she did not have sufficient proof. 

“I had nothing other than somebody offering and somebody denying. So there was no transaction. What I did was every single solitary case was reported to my permanent secretary. The best I could do under the circumstances.” 

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