Transparency: Corruption score the same but could have been worse

Trinidad and Tobago’s corruption index score remains unchanged at 40, the TT Transparency Institute said on Thursday at the launch of the Corruption Index Report.

But TTTI chairman Dion Abdool pointed out that, had the situation with the recent procurement legislation been taken into account, the country's score would have been much lower.

The procurement law, passed in December last year, met with significant push-back from economists and even the Office of the Procurement Regulator.

In an earlier report, chairman Moonilal Lalchan said recommendations were made to government which included strengthening the legislation on bid-rigging and lengthening the hearing procedures from 20 to 30 days, and spoke out against the amendments to the legislation which in essence exempt government-to-government contracts from scrutiny.

It was revealed that the procurement legislation issue wasn’t taken into account when TT was given its score. Officials at TTTI said the situation will be recorded for next year’s score.

While TT remained in the same position, other countries in the region improved on their standing in the index.

Barbados, the island with the highest anti-corruption ratings in the region, scored 64, gaining two points from the year before.

Guyana, which stood shoulder to shoulder with TT in the index last year, has passed this country by one point to make its rating a 41.

Venezuela was among the lowest in the region, with a score of 15.

Officials said the score meant the country was not moving in the realm of anti-corruption. The institute said to make effective decisions which will improve TT’s ratings, government would have to strengthen oversight institutions, carry out open and transparent contracting, publish relevant data and defend democracy at all costs.

Officials also noted that TT missed the overall average of 43, but was among two-thirds of the world which did not achieve the passing grade of 50.