IN THE midst of controversy, confusion and contradictions, the Prime Minister in Parliament has exonerated Dr. Karl Blythe, former Minister of Housing, of any administrative wrongdoing.Understandably, Dr. Blythe must be greatly relieved and is undoubtedly planning his political comeback. But the Jamaican people, we believe, remain in considerable doubt about the standards by which they have the right to judge public officials and Ministers of Government who authorise the expenditure of taxpayers' money.
The distinctions between fraud (criminal deception), misfeasance (wrongful exercise of lawful authority) and malfeasance (official conduct), are too esoteric and vague as a basis for public judgment of those whom we have entrusted with high office.
Legalities apart, there are ethical and moral norms which need to be debated and clearly defined. And even as the Prime Minister attempts to clear the air around Dr. Blythe, more dark clouds are threatening the INTEC Fund, administered by the National Investment Bank of Jamaica (NIBJ), with the ministerial responsibility reposing in Mr. Phillip Paulwell who, like Dr. Blythe, was exonerated by the Prime Minister as being a victim of youthful exuberance when million of dollars were lost in the NetServ fiasco.
After the American Civil War, adventurers from the North, possessed of little more than the clothe in their valises and "get rich quick" schemes in their heads, swooped down on the vanquished South to peddle their perfidy. They became known as "carpet-baggers", a term of opprobrium that has become a part of the language.
In some cases, the INTEC Fund seems to have attracted a new breed of carpet-baggers and we are astonished that the experienced bankers at NIBJ seem consistently unable to resist their blandishments.
The only self-enforcing formula for weeding out shysters from genuine investors is to see the colour of the investor's equity money up front before extending any matching loans. Any business venture can go bad but when an investor's money is at risk he is much more motivated to protect it instead of walking away from a deal when he has nothing to lose but other people's money.
The time has come, we think, for Jamaican taxpayers to demand a higher level of skill and management performance in the public sector generally and in particular on the part of Ministers and high officials in Government.
