Transparency International reports a shift of one point upwards within the Americas region, from a rank of 38 to 39 on the International Corruption Perception Index for this country for 2015, while the country's global rank has risen from 85 to 72.Any positive moves on the corruption balance sheets of the global watchdog body is good news, but this upgrading of T&T is ultimately negligible.
Consider just what the Corruption Perceptions Index reports on.Transparency International (TI) instituted this measure to rank countries according to how accountably money is managed in the public sector.
In the report for 2015, TI notes: "Broken institutions and corrupt officials fuel inequality and exploitation–keeping wealth in the hands of an elite few and trapping many more in poverty."The 2015 report gives no surveyed nation a perfect score and two-thirds of the countries in the report fell below 50 on an index that runs from 0 to 100 (perfectly clean).
T&T sits roughly halfway in this list of 168 countries with its score of 39, in a tie with Mongolia, El Salvador and Panama, just below Serbia and just above Bosnia and Herzegovina.The top rated country in the 2015 ranking is Denmark, with a score of 91 and in cellar position are North Korea and Somalia with scores of 8.
One of the most critical elements plaguing the accountability in T&T governance is the ongoing lack of transparent procurement procedures, which it is believed would immediately eliminate as much as 60 per cent of corruption.The history of procurement legislation in T&T has been a torturous one.
Despite appearing on the national agenda and being part of public calls for greater transparency in governance over the last 15 years, laws governing the spending of taxpayer's money are still to be enforced and supported by appropriate systems.
The Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Property Bill was passed in the Senate in December 2014 after considerable wrangling in Parliament.
The passage of the bill was lauded by local contractors, and nine months later, when the new Government was being sworn into office and a new Cabinet was being formed, T&T Contractors Association (TTCA) president Mikey Joseph confidently hoped for implementation of the bill.
In October, Mr Joseph called on the new government to move quickly in appointing a procurement regulator, essentially beginning the process of shaping systems that uphold the intent of the legislation.
By November 2015, Housing Minister Marlene McDonald warned the membership of the TTCA that the government intended to amend the Procurement Bill, describing the Act as one with shortcomings that "fails the expectation of the people."
This isn't a matter on which the newly elected PNM Government should be seen as lax, particularly after coming into office with a promise to be more accountable in its governance.
By the time local and international anti-corruption experts gather for the annual Anti-Corruption Conference scheduled for March this year, the T&T Government should ensure that it is ready to make decisive announcements about its plans to implement procurement legislation and to move talk of transparency in public spending into action.