Jamaica's dismal slide down the international corruption index is continuing, with the latest data showing the country slipping a further three places.
The 2009 Corruption Perception Index (CPI) from Transparency International shows Jamaica at 99th of the 180 countries surveyed.
Transparency International's CPI ranks countries between one and 10, with the higher the index the lower the perceived level of corruption.
The country's CPI slipped from 3.1 last year to 3.0 this year, and reflects a deterioration that started from 2003 when the CPI was at 3.8 and the country was ranked 57th on a list of 133 states.
During a seminar last month at the Terra Nova Hotel, where the European Union and the Government dealt with concerns in the fight against organised crime in Jamaica, Professor Trevor Munroe seemed to agree with the yet-unpublished report.
'Main thing wrong'
Munroe quoted a Don Anderson poll of Jamaicans done last year, which found there was a dramatic increase in the number of persons who thought too much corruption was the 'main thing wrong' with Jamaica today. The view was only second to the idea that crime and violence was the 'main thing wrong' with the country.
The decline, according to Munroe's speech, has been long in coming, as he also pointed to a 1999 Chang report in The Gleaner, which produced similar trends.
According to the poll Chang reported on, in 1999 49 per cent of Jamaican citizens thought corruption was the greatest threat to Jamaican democracy. The poll also pointed out that 77 per cent of Jamaicans at the time thought there was more corruption in Jamaica than there was 10 years before.
Quoting from Political Culture of Democracy in Jamaica, 2008, Munroe said, "One out of four Jamaicans has reported to have been exposed to some form of corruption." That figure, according to Munroe, is more than twice the global average.
"Anti-corruption initiatives need to be sustained as well as strengthened; delay after delay in judicial proceedings against the corrupt need to end; convictions of those guilty of corruption - particularly in high places - need to be secured and exemplary sentences imposed if the country's CPI score and ranking is to be improved in 2010 and beyond," said Munroe, in response to news of the downgrade.
The professor said the news was not surprising.
No suggestions for change
But the report, though painting a gloomy picture, does point to ways to change the culture of corruption.
"Stemming corruption requires strong oversight by parliaments, a well-performing judiciary, independent and properly resourced audit and anti-corruption agencies, vigorous law enforcement, transparency in public budgets, revenue and aid flows, as well as space for independent media and a vibrant civil society," said Huguette Labelle, chairman of Transparency International, in the report released yesterday.
"The international community must find efficient ways to help war-torn countries to develop and sustain their own institutions," Labelle added.
Highest scorers in the 2009 CPI were New Zealand at 9.4, Denmark at 9.3, with Singapore and Sweden tied at 9.2.
"These scores reflect political stability, long-established conflict of interest regulations and solid, functioning public institutions," Transparency International said.
For the 31 countries surveyed in the Americas, Jamaica ranked 21 behind countries such as Canada, Barbados, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Cuba, the Dominican Republic and Trinidad and Tobago.
Haiti most corrupt
Haiti continues to be the country perceived to be most corrupt in the region and among the worst in the world, with a CPI of 1.8.
Yesterday's release from Transparency International is bad news for the Bruce Golding administration, which won the 2007 general election after a campaign settled on a platform of cleaning up corruption.
There was no immediate response from Jamaica House on the latest slide yesterday, though Golding, since being elected in 2007, has repeatedly made it clear that he will not tolerate corruption.
Golding has also encouraged the police to act, despite the political ties of anyone believed to be involved in corruption.
He appointed former director of elections Danville Walker to head the Customs Department, with a mandate to address the rampant corruption which allegedly plagued that department.
The police force has also vowed to move aggressively to stamp out corruption in its ranks and last week assistant commissioner in charge of the Anti-Corruption Branch, Justin Felice, reiterated his call for a corruption court to be established and major changes made to legislation governing the prosecution of corrupt cops.
arthur.hall@gleanerjm.com