NASSAU, BAHAMAS — A governance reformer said yesterday that The Bahamas still has “a ways to go” to combat the perception of corruption, as he urged increased awareness around government’s efforts to reduce incidents of corruption.
Matt Aubry, the Organization for Responsible Governance’s (ORG) executive director told Eyewitness News that the findings of a recent World Justice Project’s Corruption in the Caribbean 2022 report highlighted the fact that more needs to be done to change the culture and perception of corruption in the country.
According to the report, some 90 percent of respondents in The Bahamas who participated in a survey on corruption said they believed that public officials “very frequently” or “frequently” influence the hiring of friends or relatives in the public sector.
The report revealed that 89 percent of respondents believed that public officials “very frequently” or “frequently” influenced the award of government contracts to friends or relatives, while 62 percent held the view that public officials frequently requested money or gifts for public services that should have been provided for free.
The report further stated that 92 percent of respondents believed that elected representatives in The Bahamas frequently influenced the career advancement of their friends or relatives on the basis of patronage instead of merit and 91 percent held the view that elected representatives and politicians “very frequently” or “frequently” influenced the award of contracts to companies and individuals close to them.
83 percent of the Bahamians interviewed believed that political parties are involved in corrupt practices.
“The government has done a number of things in recent years to reduce the incidents of corruption such as digitization of government services and the legislation regarding procurement but there doesn’t seem to be much of an awareness of that impact,” Aubry commented.
“As government makes these changes they also must demonstrate and find opportunities it highlight this because the perception of corruption can discourage people and businesses from doing things the right way.
“We definitely have ways to go but for the improvements that we have made we need to create greater awareness of what those are,” Aubry said
