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Orane grades Jamaica
Published: Thursday | July 28, 2011
Orane
Marcella Scarlett, Business Reporter
Douglas Orane has given Jamaica a 50 per cent average for just how well it has been following through on task force and committee recommendations, spanning political, social and economic spectrums, that are meant to make life better for citizens and position the country for developed status.
The businessman and former Independent senator handed out grades for nine performance benchmarks that he first began to track a year ago and has since analysed against the background of the Government's national development plan 'Vision 2030'.
Only three of the measures scored above average.
Orane, the chairman of GraceKennedy Limited, first disclosed his list while addressing a Rotary Club meeting in Kingston in June 2010, the month after the upheavals in west Kingston, protesting the extradition of Christopher 'Dudus' Coke, which economic planners estimated as costing the economy about J$18-22 billion.
On Tuesday, as the guest speaker at the PSOJ Chairman's Club's forum - the topic was Performance Measurement of our Progress Towards Breaking the Link Between Organised Crime and Politics - he said it was an "an opportune time to evaluate ourselves as society, and measure what progress we have made in the past year."
Orane told The Gleaner that he chose issues that have been widely discussed at town hall meetings, in the media, and other public forums, as well as recommendations outlined in the Electoral Commission of Jamaica (ECJ) report among others.
The preparation of audited financial statements by both the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) and the People's National Party (PNP) was awarded the highest score of eight out of 10.
"This was catalysed by the action of a small group within civil society," said Orane. "This is a good example of what can result from pressure from civil society."
Reduction in homicides and increase in volunteerism and community intervention were each assigned seven points, the second highest score allotted on Orane's 'Governance Scorecard'.
The GraceKennedy chairman pointed out that with increased tolerance of some categories of violent crime, as described by Professor Anthony Harriott, and the sub-culture of violence, there was great deterioration in the country's social fabric.
He said, for the first six months of 2011, 524 people have been murdered compared to 847 for the same period last year - meaning Jamaica is no longer among the top three highest murder rates in the world and is heading in the right direction at 6th or 7th. The regressive trend in the murder rate for the country is seen as "progress" by Orane, which he used to justify his evaluation.
Volunteerism was obvious in programmes carried out by both the private sector and the Government, he told the PSOJ forum.
The private sector's initiatives include the PSOJ's Youth Upliftment Through Employment programme and the Peace Management Initiative while the State's efforts include the Citizens Security and Justice Programme.
The Council of Voluntary Social Services and United Way report that volunteerism is on the decline, despite the efforts that are being made, but Orane made his award of seven points based on statistics available and anecdotal evidence.
Full transparency for political party and campaign financing and the frequency with which Parliament meets and bills are passed were each allotted the midway mark of five points.
Orane specifically had recommended "that we needed full transparency, where all donations and donors are made public".
The ECJ 2010 report detailed specific recommendations about party financing and the progress of implementation. The report acknowledges that candidates' need to access funding elsewhere in order to contest elections; however, there needs to be close monitoring of how this is done.
Orane advised that this issue was raised in Parliament as far back as 2002 but has to date not been addressed.
"It is imperative that this matter is attended to, well before the next general election," he said.
Orane said the frequency with which Parliament meets as well as the number of bills passed needs to be benchmarked.
Other Commonwealth parliaments, the UK House of Commons and the Canadian House of Commons, meet approximately twice as many times as Jamaica's Parliament, he said.
"There is a direct correlation between the number of times that Parliament meets and the number of bills it is able to pass," Orane argued.
In 2008, Gordon House passed 16 bills in 35 sittings; 14 bills were passed in 47 sittings in 2009; and 2010 saw 33 bills passed from 49 sittings.
Orane highlighted "progress" but contended that "we are nowhere close to where other houses of parliament are in terms of frequency".
Fit and proper tests for contractors and putting the special prosecutor in place scored four out of 10. So too did accomplishments under the seizure of assets derived from criminal activities.
There are no fit and proper requirements for contractors or sub-contractors. The proposal was to support the contractor general's push for the establishment of a national independent anti-corruption agency.
It was amended so that only two, rather than three government agencies, are merged to form the special prosecutor's office, said Orane. The special prosecutor's bill has been passed by the Senate and is now in the House of Representatives with a doubtful August 2011 deadline, he said.
The Financial Investigation Division has been actively probing those suspected of gaining wealth through criminal means, and has successfully confiscated large volumes of cash, but the Ministry of Finance has opted not to publicise its activities in this area, said the GK chairman.
"This score would be higher if the public had information," he said.
On the issue of taxes, Orane said compliance was dismal - 36 per cent of expected tax returns were not filed in March 2009 and this figure jumped to 41 per cent in 2010; and many are outside the tax net.
However, with recent administrative measures to encourage individuals and companies to comply, the category merited a score of three.
The lowest score of two was given to plans for the establishment of a system for integrity testing for persons holding political office. The JLP and the PNP have made strides in this direction by setting up an Integrity Committee and a Selection Committee, respectively, to screen their candidates, but their effectiveness needs to be publicly demonstrated, said Orane.
"Where there are high scores we can commend ourselves as displaying the attributes of good governance in our democracy," he told his PSOJ colleagues.
"Where there are low scores, it is a wake-up call for all of us, not only those with primary responsibility for implementation, but for each individual to spur our leadership at all levels into timely action, and to hold them accountable."
marcella.scarlett@gleanerjm.com
Published: Thursday | July 28, 2011
Orane
Marcella Scarlett, Business Reporter
Douglas Orane has given Jamaica a 50 per cent average for just how well it has been following through on task force and committee recommendations, spanning political, social and economic spectrums, that are meant to make life better for citizens and position the country for developed status.
The businessman and former Independent senator handed out grades for nine performance benchmarks that he first began to track a year ago and has since analysed against the background of the Government's national development plan 'Vision 2030'.
Only three of the measures scored above average.
Orane, the chairman of GraceKennedy Limited, first disclosed his list while addressing a Rotary Club meeting in Kingston in June 2010, the month after the upheavals in west Kingston, protesting the extradition of Christopher 'Dudus' Coke, which economic planners estimated as costing the economy about J$18-22 billion.
On Tuesday, as the guest speaker at the PSOJ Chairman's Club's forum - the topic was Performance Measurement of our Progress Towards Breaking the Link Between Organised Crime and Politics - he said it was an "an opportune time to evaluate ourselves as society, and measure what progress we have made in the past year."
Orane told The Gleaner that he chose issues that have been widely discussed at town hall meetings, in the media, and other public forums, as well as recommendations outlined in the Electoral Commission of Jamaica (ECJ) report among others.
The preparation of audited financial statements by both the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) and the People's National Party (PNP) was awarded the highest score of eight out of 10.
"This was catalysed by the action of a small group within civil society," said Orane. "This is a good example of what can result from pressure from civil society."
Reduction in homicides and increase in volunteerism and community intervention were each assigned seven points, the second highest score allotted on Orane's 'Governance Scorecard'.
The GraceKennedy chairman pointed out that with increased tolerance of some categories of violent crime, as described by Professor Anthony Harriott, and the sub-culture of violence, there was great deterioration in the country's social fabric.
He said, for the first six months of 2011, 524 people have been murdered compared to 847 for the same period last year - meaning Jamaica is no longer among the top three highest murder rates in the world and is heading in the right direction at 6th or 7th. The regressive trend in the murder rate for the country is seen as "progress" by Orane, which he used to justify his evaluation.
Volunteerism was obvious in programmes carried out by both the private sector and the Government, he told the PSOJ forum.
The private sector's initiatives include the PSOJ's Youth Upliftment Through Employment programme and the Peace Management Initiative while the State's efforts include the Citizens Security and Justice Programme.
The Council of Voluntary Social Services and United Way report that volunteerism is on the decline, despite the efforts that are being made, but Orane made his award of seven points based on statistics available and anecdotal evidence.
Full transparency for political party and campaign financing and the frequency with which Parliament meets and bills are passed were each allotted the midway mark of five points.
Orane specifically had recommended "that we needed full transparency, where all donations and donors are made public".
The ECJ 2010 report detailed specific recommendations about party financing and the progress of implementation. The report acknowledges that candidates' need to access funding elsewhere in order to contest elections; however, there needs to be close monitoring of how this is done.
Orane advised that this issue was raised in Parliament as far back as 2002 but has to date not been addressed.
"It is imperative that this matter is attended to, well before the next general election," he said.
Orane said the frequency with which Parliament meets as well as the number of bills passed needs to be benchmarked.
Other Commonwealth parliaments, the UK House of Commons and the Canadian House of Commons, meet approximately twice as many times as Jamaica's Parliament, he said.
"There is a direct correlation between the number of times that Parliament meets and the number of bills it is able to pass," Orane argued.
In 2008, Gordon House passed 16 bills in 35 sittings; 14 bills were passed in 47 sittings in 2009; and 2010 saw 33 bills passed from 49 sittings.
Orane highlighted "progress" but contended that "we are nowhere close to where other houses of parliament are in terms of frequency".
Fit and proper tests for contractors and putting the special prosecutor in place scored four out of 10. So too did accomplishments under the seizure of assets derived from criminal activities.
There are no fit and proper requirements for contractors or sub-contractors. The proposal was to support the contractor general's push for the establishment of a national independent anti-corruption agency.
It was amended so that only two, rather than three government agencies, are merged to form the special prosecutor's office, said Orane. The special prosecutor's bill has been passed by the Senate and is now in the House of Representatives with a doubtful August 2011 deadline, he said.
The Financial Investigation Division has been actively probing those suspected of gaining wealth through criminal means, and has successfully confiscated large volumes of cash, but the Ministry of Finance has opted not to publicise its activities in this area, said the GK chairman.
"This score would be higher if the public had information," he said.
On the issue of taxes, Orane said compliance was dismal - 36 per cent of expected tax returns were not filed in March 2009 and this figure jumped to 41 per cent in 2010; and many are outside the tax net.
However, with recent administrative measures to encourage individuals and companies to comply, the category merited a score of three.
The lowest score of two was given to plans for the establishment of a system for integrity testing for persons holding political office. The JLP and the PNP have made strides in this direction by setting up an Integrity Committee and a Selection Committee, respectively, to screen their candidates, but their effectiveness needs to be publicly demonstrated, said Orane.
"Where there are high scores we can commend ourselves as displaying the attributes of good governance in our democracy," he told his PSOJ colleagues.
"Where there are low scores, it is a wake-up call for all of us, not only those with primary responsibility for implementation, but for each individual to spur our leadership at all levels into timely action, and to hold them accountable."
marcella.scarlett@gleanerjm.com