Corrupt payback!
Published:Monday | June 21, 2010 | 12:00 AM
Livern Barrett, Gleaner Writer
DISCRETIONARY TAX waivers granted to private-sector companies, which amount to billions of dollars annually, are a potential source of corrupt payback to big-spending political party donors.
This is the view of Professor Trevor Munroe, director of the National Integrity Action Forum, who wants to see greater transparency in the way political parties fund their campaigns and in the way they are funded.
"I suggest to you that the system of political party funding and campaign financing in Jamaica is at the heart of endemic and institutionalised corruption in our system of governance," Munroe charged at a Gleaner Editors' Forum last Friday.
However, the governing Jamaica Labour Party, through its treasurer, Christopher Bovell, strongly disagreed, pointing out that there was no evidence of this.
"I've been around for a very long time and I have never heard of a connection between waivers being granted to companies and contributions to political parties," Bovell responded.
PSOJ Unaware
The Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ) also distanced itself from Munroe's claim, making it clear that it was not aware that any of its members were enjoying the benefits of discretionary waivers in exchange for political donations.
"We are not aware of any such activities. It is certainly something the PSOJ would not encourage or endorse," said Janet Morrison, chairperson of the PSOJ's Justice Reform Committee.
However, Munroe did not back away, arguing that because Jamaica did not have a system of disclosure for political parties, there was no way of disproving a link between waivers and donations.