Transparency International has accused Jamaican politicians of being resistant to reforms that could assist the nation in making greater progress in tackling corruption.

The corruption watchdog, in its 2021 Corruption Perception Index (CPI) released last night, indicated that Jamaica had fallen one place – to 70th out of 180 countries – while repeating its 2020 CPI score of 44 as one of 22 countries in the Americas region that saw no statistically significant changes to their corruption levels.

At 70th, the island’s ranking was still better than its placing at 74th with a score of 43 for 2019. From 1998 to 2020, the country held an average 72.24 placement in the rankings.

“In the Caribbean region, Jamaica has been struggling for several years,” Transparency International said.

“It has made some progress- the establishment of the Major Organised Crime and Anti-Corruption Agency as an independent body, and the corruption cases recently pursued by the Auditor General’s Department are two examples – but this comes alongside significant resistance to reforms from many politicians in the country.”

Jamaica, in the 2021 CPI, continued to be ranked the fifth most corrupt country in the Caribbean after Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Guyana, and Trinidad and Tobago.

AMERICAS AT A STANDSTILL IN CORRUPTION FIGHT

Barbados was identified as the least corrupt country in the region with a score of 65 out of 100 and a ranking of 29th out of 180 countries.

According to Transparency International, with an average score of 43 out of 100 for the third consecutive year in the CPI, the countries of the Americas have ground to a halt in the fight against corruption – similar to the rest of the world which was viewed as also coming to a standstill.

The watchdog said that, despite extensive legislation and a regional commitment to control this scourge, corruption in the Americans continues to undermine democracy and human rights.

In the last 10 years, only Guyana (CPI score: 39) and Paraguay (30) have made noteworthy improvements. Over the same period, three of the regions strongest democracies – The United States (67), Chile (67) and Canada (74), which lead the ranking this year – show a decline, while only Uruguay (73) remains stable.

Venezuela, Haiti and Nicaragua – non-democratic states experiencing humanitarian crises – score the lowest with 14, 20 and 22 points, respectively.