6th Annual UTech,Jamaica/JMMB Joan Duncan Memorial Lecture
Jeanette Calder Delivers 6th UTech, Jamaica/JMMB Joan Duncan Memorial Lecture
Ms Jeanette Calder, civil society advocate and Executive Director of the Jamaica Accountability Meter Portal (JAMP) makes a point during her delivery of at the 6th annual Joan Duncan Memorial Lecture hosted by the Joan Duncan School of Entrepreneurship, Ethics and Leadership (JDSEEL), College of Business, University of Technology, Jamaica in collaboration with the JMMB Joan Duncan Foundation on Wednesday, May 29, 2019 at the Shared Facilities Building, UTech, Jamaica Papine Campus.
Ms. Jeanette Calder, civil society advocate and Executive Director of the Jamaica Accountability Meter Portal (JAMP) has argued that the present environment in Jamaica aided by enabling legislation, press freedom and a robust system of oversight agencies, parliamentary oversight committees and the persistent agitation by civil society, makes for a “ripe environment” to tackle the scourge of corruption impacting the country.
“I am not talking about political will, I have a theory that whatever becomes public will translate into political will,” she asserted, adding that, “anything that we are going to do to correct corruption is going to be worth our time and energy.” Miss Calder was delivering the 6th annual Joan Duncan Memorial Lecture hosted by the Joan Duncan School of Entrepreneurship, Ethics and Leadership (JDSEEL) at the University of Technology, Jamaica in collaboration with the JMMB Joan Duncan Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the JMMB Group on Wednesday, May 29, 2019 at the University’s Papine Campus. The Joan Duncan Memorial Lecture honours the vision, mission and passion of the late corporate leader and JMMB co-founder, Joan Duncan for whom the Joan Duncan School of Entrepreneurship, Ethics land Leadership has been named.
Defining corruption simply as “the abuse of public office for private benefit or gain,” the civil society advocate shared examples of poor governance at play in several national institutions. She pointed to some of these cases uncovered by Auditor General Reports dating back from as far as 1967. The reported 23 years of never having submitted a financial statement by the Ports Authority of Jamaica and no evidence that its audit committee has ever met, came in for harsh criticism by Ms Calder; as did her citing of the 2017 finding that a senior officer at the Institute of Sports had benefitted from three pensions valued at $120,000, $56.2 million and US$554K, all while in receipt of gratuity totaling $31.33 million. She also called out cases of reported poor governance at the National Insurance Fund, the NWC and the Jamaica Constabulary Force.
Ms Calder told the large gathering of educators, students and a host of persons from the private and public sector, that current data estimates that corruption is costing Jamaica upwards of 5 – 10% of GDP or about $94.6 billion annually. “Just imagine what we could do with that money?” she questioned, “with just half of that money we could build schools and hospitals… I can’t imagine what this country would be like.”
Technology Solution
In advancing some concrete solutions to reducing corruption, Ms Calder gave a sneak peak of a new technology-based digital accountability tool box innovation being developed by JAMP to empower ordinary citizens of Jamaica to access the information they need to participate in the accountability and governance framework, in support of Jamaica’s growth and development. The tool for example will point users to the names of accountable officers in government and public sector institutions and provide updates on the status of corrective measures being taken to address breaches. Ms Calder disclosed that JAMP is currently tracking some 47 such breaches.
In his remarks, Dr. Haldane Johnson, AVP, Teaching and Learning, University of Technology, Jamaica, who represented University President, UTech, Professor Stephen Vasciannie, said that the university is in “solidarity with all efforts to strengthen public participation in eliminating corruption in all forms and sectors of society.” He noted that UTech, Jamaica and JMMB has had a long and productive relationship which dates back to 2000 with the establishment of the Joan Duncan Chair at the University to conduct research in the area of finance and ethics.
In 2010 through an endowment fund from the JMMB, the Joan Duncan School of Entrepreneurship Ethics and Leadership was established as the first school of its kind in the English-Speaking Caribbean to offer a specialised Bachelor of Science degree in Entrepreneurship.
Mrs. Patricia Sutherland, Chairman, JMMB Joan Duncan Foundation, in her remarks
noted that it will require the support from the Jamaican citizenry through partnerships with agencies such as JAMP “to create the kinds of organizations that do the research to give information that can help us make better decisions and create the right kinds of institutions to help us fix the institutions that we have created,” she said.
A robust question and answer session followed the lecture with members of the audience pledging to support the work being done by JAMP in the fight against corruption.
The closing remarks were moved by Mr. Prince Graham-Haynes, Lecturer, JDSEEL and member of the UTech, Jamaica /Joan Duncan Memorial Lecture Planning Committee. He thanked Miss Calder for her “first-class, well-researched” presentation. He also thanked members of the UTech, Jamaica/Joan Duncan Memorial Lecture Planning Committee led by Chairman, Mr Nigel Cooper, Head, JDSEEL, for their commitment to the success of the evening’s lecture.
In Tribute to Joan Duncan: Mr. Michael Wilson, Violinist and UTech, Jamaica FOSS graduate entertains the audience in tribute to the late Joan Duncan.
Thanks to MC: Mrs. Donna Duncan-Scott, Group Executive Director, Culture and Human Development, JMMB Group expresses thanks to Mr Hector Wheeler, Associate Vice President, Advancement, UTech, Jamaica for ably chairing the lecture.
End.
Contact:
Michelle Beckford (Mrs.)
Corporate Communications Manager
University of Technology, Jamaica
Telephone: 970-5299
Email: mbeckford@utech.edu.jm