With the economy virtually on life support and with families trying to grapple with joblessness and a deteriorating dollar, people are angry at revelations of how the shrinking cake has been carved up in favour of a select few. And just when we thought we had heard the worst of these repugnant contracts, another one surfaces.

It is against this background that the query about consultants and their compensation raised by Central Kingston Member of Parliament Ronald Thwaites has gained the attention of many persons. The fact that the Government failed to provide the answers on time confirms once again that this administration is heavy on rhetoric but very light on disclosure.

Mr Thwaites is in fact articulating the concerns of scores of Jamaicans who cannot understand why the country is being told there is no money to pay teachers, nurses and other public-sector workers, yet each week there are revelations about excesses in the public sector which range from lavish office furnishings to exorbitant travel expenses and huge compensation packages.

the real question

Although it is sad to see persons lose their jobs, the question about impending cuts in the public sector ought not to be whether consultants will be cut from the public payroll, instead the question ought to be: how many?

It is recognised that a new administration searching for responses to the global meltdown, trade issues and other challenges would need to rely on high-level professional expertise which is not available in the public sector, but the Government owes a duty to the country to set out the guidelines for the engagement and use of consultants.

There has to be justification, however, for each consultant and these individuals should be made to perform at a very high level to prove their worth. This is no place for bench warmers or cronies.

We go further; since many of these consultants are from the private sector, they ought to be subject to the broadest disclosure requirements regarding conflicts of interest. Also, consultants should be given specific targets and a set period in which to achieve their work.

The time may also be opportune for the current administration to look more closely at compensation packages for certain public servants which were signed off just prior to the last general election. Recent disclosures about the generous compensation package of the former governor of the Bank of Jamaica, signed with retroactive effect and right on the heels of the election, have stirred debate of another kind.

One may say it is a bit late in the day for a review. The other argument is that the former administration is quite disingenuous in its effort to try and gloss over these contracts once the details become public. Playing fast and loose with government funds is unacceptable and there needs to be consensus at the political level about how to enhance the governance process and better serve society.