By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

Transparency International's Bahamian representative yesterday said economic abuses "by corrupt officials" had helped bring this nation to the precipice of its second 'junk' creditworthiness downgrade.

Lemarque Campbell, Citizens for a Better Bahamas' chairman, told Tribune Business that the scourge of corruption was a major factor behind "all of the societal ills in the Bahamas".

He confirmed that Citizens for a Better Bahamas, together with Transparency International, had written to the newly-elected Minnis administration backing its anti-corruption pronouncements, and urging that it tackle freedom of information and public procurement as priorities.

"Corruption has proven to be a major contributor to all of the societal ills in the Bahamas," Mr Campbell told Tribune Business, adding that its eradication would help to reduce this nation's current $300 million-plus annual deficits.

"Now that the new government has settled in, we decided to write to them to offer international expertise in fighting corruption. We don't live in a vacuum; we are a part of a global community and the world is watching."

He tied corruption to the Bahamas' continued economic slide, and its low GDP growth, high unemployment and fiscal crises.

"As we can see, Moody's is already giving us a downgrade review," Mr Campbell wrote to this newspaper. "We have essentially had an abuse of our economy by corrupt officials for many years, through reckless spending and a lack of accountability.

"The Government now has a responsibility to guard against such abuse by implementing the necessary anti-corruption reforms. We can decrease the deficit once we tackle corruption. Additionally, as we rely so heavily on foreign direct investment (FDI), we have to remember that no credible investor would want to deal with any corrupt government.

"We ought to have a strategic action plan in place if we are serious about tackling corruption in the Bahamas. The Government needs to go after the low hanging fruit. For instance, we need to hear more about advancements being made on strengthening and implementing the Freedom of Information Act."

K P Turnquest, the minister of finance, last week told Tribune Business that anti-corruption laws, together with a Fiscal Responsibility Act, are the new government's top legislative priorities once the House of Assembly returns in September.

While the Minnis administration has talked all the right things, it now has to execute amid signs that Bahamian patience is already starting to 'wear thin' over its blaming of the former Christie government for a variety of woes.

Backing the Government's rhetoric, Transparency International and Citizens for a Better Bahamas jointly outlined "five areas for priority consideration".

They said these were "the full enactment and implementation of a strong Freedom of Information Act"; enactment of legal protections for 'whistleblowers'; the Public Disclosure Act's enforcement; political campaign finance reform; and "a fair and open public procurement system".

The letter, signed jointly by Mr Campbell and Alejandro Salas, Transparency International's regional director for the Americas, pledged their organisations' full support if the Government "heralds in an auspicious new era of transparency, accountability and integrity in governance in the Bahamas".

They wrote: "We recognise and applaud your government's commitment to deliver on your campaign promises of transparency, accountability and good governance reforms, as outlined in your recent pronouncements to introduce various anti-corruption legislation, along with an autonomous anti-corruption agency.

"We look forward to your government's prompt and ongoing development of modern and robust anti-corruption policies. To that end, we wish to extend our support to your government through our global network of research, expertise and advice on international best practices in the areas of open, transparent and accountable governance.

"We expect that your government will adopt a national action plan for good governance, which includes increased levels of citizen participation in the decision-making process."