The Tribune

By AVA TURNQUEST

Tribune Chief Reporter

aturnquest@tribunemedia.net

THE Bahamas has not considered or adopted measures intended to maintain and strengthen the Public Disclosure Commission, according to a recent report from the Organisation of American States.

Recommendations to establish provisions that would ensure the Public Disclosure Commission (PDC) had independence in exercising its functions under the Public Disclosures Act were part of a comprehensive review of the country’s implementation of the Inter-American Convention against Corruption.

Measures recommended in the other major areas of focus relating to the Office of the Attorney General, the Department of the Auditor General, and the Financial Intelligence Unit were all considered and adopted.

A source close to the matter told The Tribune yesterday that the government intended to implement measures before the September 2017 deadline and ahead of the next general election.

The report focused on implementation related to “oversight bodies, with a view to implementing modern mechanisms for preventing, detecting, punishing, and eradicating corrupt acts”, and also included a follow-up of the mechanisms recommended in 2005 during the first round of assessments.

The 107-page report was issued at the 25th meeting of the Committee of Experts, held in Washington, DC last month.

“Regarding the Public Disclosure Commission,” it read, “consider establishing provisions that set out that the Public Disclosure Commission is independent in exercising its functions under the Public Disclosure Act; establish and update on a periodic basis a website; implement electronic means for completing a declaration as well as for submission by those subject to the Public Disclosure Act; and consider establishing the requirement for publication of an annual report by the Public Disclosure Commission on its activities carried out within a year.”

It also suggested that parliamentarians, senators, and public appointees provide financial declarations for their spouses and children. The report also recommended that financial declarations should be accessible to the public.

Outstanding recommendations related to the first round of assessments focus on: implementing standards of conduct for those offices that currently do not fall under the purview of any controls, including adequate sanctions for violations of those standards; establish reporting requirements for those public officials and employees who are currently not required to report to appropriate authorities acts of corruption in the performance of public functions; and enact a Freedom of Information Act that regulates and facilitates the access by the public to information in the control of public institutions.