Jerome Teelucksingh

“THE TRUTH is that this country is rife with corruption and rumours of corruption.” This was a statement made in the Express editorial on July 25, 1984.

It seems odd that an opinion from 40 years ago might somehow be relevant in 2024.

The editorial focused on the Auditor General’s report, which revealed $600 million had "disappeared." The editorial noted, “Throughout the report we read of balances not being reconciled in one form or the other, about unauthorised expenditure in the Ministry of Works, for example…”

This observation reminded me of some of the red flags of the Auditor General’s 2023 report.

Yes, there is an urgent need to purge corruption and promote complete transparency. It is critical that TT and the rest of the Caribbean must enforce proper accounting systems. It is essential for us to have dedicated, trustworthy personnel to prevent bribes and nepotism. No country needs political magicians and their trick of vanishing money.

Transparency and accountability are urgently needed. It was a shock to read that the Financial Intelligence Unit of TT (FIUTT), in its annual report, noted that in 2023 there was $5 billion in “suspicious money transactions.”

We must ask: Would some of this suspicious money be used to fund political parties in election season? This is alarming and should be a major concern for all the citizenry. Effective and elaborate checks and balances should be implemented to identify and penalise unscrupulous people.

It is necessity that a political leader must carefully choose people who will effectively harness human resources to maximise its potential. If not, then magicians will run amok and subsequently the country will feel the wrath of discontented masses.

The Caribbean must guard against the exploitation of its natural resources and disruption of its socio-political systems by devious individuals and organisations. Some citizens, devoid of patriotism and nationalism, are willing to sell the riches of their country to already-wealthy foreigners. We need to be wary of the wolf in sheep’s clothing.

One of the roles of the media and political opposition is to prevent the emergence of magicians. Often the opposition exists merely as a token that democracy exists because it disagrees with the government on bills and legislation. The buzz words "constitutional reform" are merely to appease a segment of the discontented masses.

Both opposition and ruling parties are intent on gaining power, maintaining the status quo and sowing seeds of ethnic discord. The never-ending desire for control of the political levers of power, at the expense of peace and stability, is to the detriment of the public.

But the greed must be stopped by the level-minded and rational citizenry.

A leader from a developing nation cannot have the extravagant tastes of leaders from developed countries. A country with a debt burden should avoid hosting an expensive event such as a beauty pageant, international conferences or erection of costly monuments.

In May 1999, the G