Confession - K.D. accuses governments of corrupt spending

A FORMER senior government minister under the P.J. Patterson administration has admitted that the then government spent public resources that were tainted by corrupt practices.

K.D. Knight, an opposition senator, accused the current administration of also spending public funds in a questionable manner.  The senior lawmaker was blunt in his remarks, stating that his colleagues on both sides of the political divide might be upset at his statement.

"I believe that in relation to the Government, and I don't blame this Government alone, we have had excessive spending. We have had unnecessary spending, and we have had spending which has been tainted by corrupt practices," he said. "Each one that I have referred to contributes to leakage from the government coffers, and, therefore, heightens the inability of the Government to satisfy wage claims."

Knight was contributing to a debate on the Minimum Wage Act in Parliament yesterday. The bill increases fines for employers who flout the law. The bill was passed.