AFRA RAYMOND

“Ambiguity and silence (are) the enemy of ethics and integrity.” – Richard Bistrong

“‘Manufactured consent’ is supported by ‘…effective and powerful ideological institutions that carry out a system-supportive propaganda function by reliance on market forces, internalised assumptions, and self-censorship, and without overt coercion…’” – Noam Chomsky

The Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Property Act (PPDPPA) was approved by Parliament in 2015 and amended three times by this administration. The regulations to the act were approved by Parliament in January 2022, so the stage was set for implementation of this important law.

This series deals with the intentional series of delays now emerging from our Attorney General and the Judiciary.

Our Judiciary made formal objections to the act, which had already been approved by Parliament. It is a piercing irony that those submissions were unsupported by any citations or research – none whatsoever.

Professional responsibility is one of the important lenses to examine the new public procurement law and the implementation challenges.

Grand corruption is impossible without the active assistance, advice and scheming of professionals – lawyers, bankers, accountants, engineers, surveyors. The thieves cannot function without the professionals – after all, as the old saying goes, “The upholder is worse than the thief!” That saying speaks to the particular responsibilities which are vested in the professional class.

In the struggle to write and lobby for this crucial law, we were never able to get any interest from the Law Association – including the present LATT board. No comments from the Institute of Chartered Accountants or the Bankers’ Association.

Members of those professions play a pivotal role in looting our country and undermining our attempts to create a decent civilisation. For that matter, I cannot recall the UWI ever making any statement of support for the new procurement law.

The pipeline is simple, from the lawyers who prepare the agreements/contracts to facilitate the nonsense to the accountants who need those contracts to approve the payments to the bankers who will not make any payments without proper documentation.

That is how grand corruption works. It is all done in comfortable air-conditioned offices in the good part of town with polite, well-qualified professionals. That is the scene.

The three professional bodies which should be clearest on their roles and responsibilities in this grievous matter have all maintained eloquent silences. In anticipation of those who will cry “not all” bankers/lawyers/accountants, we all know high-quality members of those professions; but the inescapable fact is that those professional bodies have chosen to be silent, by taking the side of the upholder. That is where we are.

[caption id="attachment_993774" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Hall of Justice, Port of Spain. - FILE PHOTO/ROGER JACOB[/caption]

The December 2020 suite of exemptions to the public procurement law effectively