Durrant Pate/Contributor

Six Jamaican parliamentarians have been referred for investigation by the Integrity Commission, as the anti-corruption agency looks into suspected breaches of the Integrity Act.

At the same time, the Seymour Panton-chaired commission also referred 32 public officials for investigation. During the reporting period, the commission recorded a 71 per cent compliance rate for public officials and a 92 per cent compliance rate for parliamentarians with respect to filing statutory declarations.

During the reporting period, the commission examined 563 statutory declarations, using a risk-based approach and stratified random sampling, and certified 439 of those statutory declarations. The Integrity Commission’s annual report for 2023, which was tabled in Parliament on Tuesday (July 11), showed that 77 of the 84 parliamentarians, who were required to file a statutory declaration submitted them on or before March 31, 2023.

Four late submissions while remain outstanding

Following the deadline date, four parliamentarians submitted their statutory declarations while three remain outstanding. One statutory notice was sent to a parliamentarian with respect to the submission of a statutory declaration as at December 31, 2021, which was deemed invalid.

The parliamentarian submitted the statutory declaration within the 30-day period of the notice. For the period under review, 158 complaints and information were received by the commission, of which 59 matters were referred to the Director of Investigation, 58 were closed, and 18 matters are being kept-in-view.

Some 149, or 81 per cent of the 185 public bodies that were required to submit a draft protected disclosures procedural guidelines (PDPGs), submitted same. The Commission approved 109 of the PDPGs received.

Crucial public education campaign roll out

Additionally, the commission engaged a total of 66 senior management teams of public bodies, and conducted 25 sensitisation sessions with the general staff members of public sector bodies. This was complemented by a crucial public relations campaign, which was initiated in March 2023, and three billboards were strategically placed in Half-Way Tree, on Washington Boulevard and in Sam Sharpe Square, Montego Bay.

Under this Initiative, other public education programmes will be launched to raise awareness of the Protected Disclosures Act, 2011. The proposed training of designated officers within the public sector is scheduled to commence in April 2023.

Cabinet approval for Electronic Declaration System

According to the commission,  “time taken to approve the Legislative Framework remained an obstacle to fully implement the Electronic Declaration System (eDS). Notwithstanding, on April 28, 2023, the Permanent Secretary of the Office of the Prime Minister wrote to the Commission advising that the Cabinet gave approval for the promulgation of Regulations, pursuant to Section 64 of the Integrity Commission Act and Section 14 of the Electronic Transaction Act, to provide for the use of [Statutory Declaration] electronic forms.”