Minister of Home Affairs, Information and Public Affairs, Wilfred Abrahams.
Upstanding public officials have nothing to fear, where Government’s anti-corruption legislation is concerned.
Minister of Home Affairs, Information and Public Affairs, Wilfred Abrahams issued this message, as he made his contribution to Tuesday’s debate of the Anti-Corruption and Anti-Terrorism Agency Bill, 2020.
“I don’t think that those whose hearts are pure have anything to worry about, quite frankly. If you are here to do the people’s business and you are here to apply the rules and you are here to be a good government, then you need not fear this anti-corruption legislation. It is not meant to catch you out, it is meant to prevent corrupt acts,” Abrahams explained.
He added, “For all those who have dealt fairly, once they are able to justify what it is that they do have, then there is nothing for us to be afraid of. I keep telling people you don’t have to be worried about being caught, if you have done the right thing. Everything can be explained.”
Minister Abrahams meanwhile noted that there is much Barbados can learn from Singapore and how the matter of corruption was dealt with there.
“I look at the Singapore model and I believe that there are plenty of lessons that we can learn from Singapore. Singapore had a serious problem with corruption. A very, very big problem with corruption. You know what Singapore did? Singapore said alright, here’s what we are going to do. You public officials, we are going to revise your entire pay scale, all of the public officials. We are actually going to look at what is a fair pay for you and we are going to pay you not just fairly, but we are going to pay you well. However, if you are found guilty of corruption, if it so for the person who is bribing, I think the fine starts at 100, 000 dollars or five years in jail, but if you are the corrupt official, I think that penalty goes up to ten years, just for the simple act of corruption,” he said.
“So they are dropping the hammer on public officials, by making sure that across the board, the MPs, the Cabinet ministers, the heads of the public service, the PSs, the police, all of the public servants have gone up, but also the punishment is certain. It is almost impossible to get away with corruption,” he stressed, whilst pointing to the huge deterrent in the form of the law.
He meanwhile stated, “So I accept that we are not yet there. I accept that we have to look and find ways to equalise the pay in the civil service. I believe that our police need to be paid better and I would like to think that when the government has additional resources, that we can start to make better payments and have a better revelation for what the salary should be, for those key persons in our society.” (RSM)