“Trinidad
and Tobago would have been a model state with well-managed, efficient services;
effective infrastructure and broad-based prosperity were it not for corruption.” Discuss.
The cost of corruption in Trinbagonian society can only be measured by the torrents of innocent blood that our nation’s soil has drunk till it can bear no more. Our founding father Eric Williams envisioned Port of Spain as being the Athens of the Caribbean and it would have been his desire that we become a model state. However it can be argued that we are far from being a model state due to the culture of corruption that plagues our society.
The abundance of drug money flowing through the criminal underworld like the mythical river Styx has led to gang wars. Gang wars have led to the assassination of individuals whom are deemed a threat to the underworld such as the esteemed Dana Seetahal S.C.
Corruption is defined by Transparency International as “the abuse of entrusted power for private gain “and by the Merriam-Webster Dictionary as “impairment of integrity, virtue, or moral principle”.
Corruption is arguably the root cause of much of the death and suffering in our society. Corruption entails practices such as Money Laundering, Drug Trafficking, bribery of public officials and other such immoral practices which enable the criminal underworld to thrive.
On the Global Corruption Perceptions Index 2013 Trinidad and Tobago ranks 83rd out of 177 nations, on par with Jamaica. By comparison our Caribbean neighbor Barbados ranks 15th which is a higher rank the United States at 19th.
The GCP index reveals a clear correlation between a low corruption perception and a high level of human development and other factors associated with first world status. This corroborates the argument that corruption is a causal factor of poverty, crime and underdevelopment.
The GCP index also reveals that countries with major drug and crime problems are ranked lowest on the index, the example being Venezuela with a rank of 160th. This shows that corruption in society can lead to gang warfare and a high murder rate.
Trinidad and Tobago ranks in the top 10 in the world for homicides per capita according to a UN Information Service report for 2013. According to the United States Department of State Overall Crime and Safety Report (OSAC) 2013 the murder rate in Trinidad and Tobago is driven primarily by gang and drug related activities.
The problem of narcotics and gang warfare in our nation is arguably the grimmest manifestation of corruption that our society has to battle. The narcotics trade helps to fund gangs and allows for the importation of guns and ammunition.
The money brought in by the narcotics trade is the driving force behind most of the serious crime in our nation. Many corrupt acts are funded by drug monies including the assassination and intimidation of private citizens or the bribery of public officials. This in turn weakens the rule of law and by extension weakens our democracy and our nation as a whole.
Also linked to the narcotics trade is the crime of money laundering. Money laundering is the process by which cash and funds obtained through criminal activity is transformed into seemingly legitimate assets. It tends to involve complicated schemes whereby illicit cash may be sent through many different bank accounts and given to third parties to purchase legitimate assets such as real estate or stocks and bonds.
With reference to the Financial Investigation Unit of Trinidad and Tobago’s Annual Report for 2013, 19% of all suspected specified offenses investigated by the FIU involved money laundering this represents the largest single category of offenses investigated by the FIU.
In 2012 the total value of suspicious transaction reports submitted to the FIU totaled TT$ 638,844,310. In 2013 TT 1.12 billion attempted transactions were intercepted and reported to the FIU. These figures give an indication of the sheer amount of illicit funds are moving around in our economy, most of which come from the drug trade.
The evidence showing the link between corruption and crime in our nation is so overwhelming that no sensible individual would attempt to counter argue this assertion.
Corruption also has taken its toll on the infrastructural development of Trinidad and Tobago. Consider the fact that Port of Spain’s streets regularly become rivers during the rainy season. It can therefore be said that Trinidad and Tobago’s infrastructure is far from the standard of a model state.
The shadow of corruption and mismanagement has always stalked our nation’s major building projects. The incomplete Brian Lara cricket stadium at Tarouba which has cost over 1.1 billion to date exemplifies the trend that major government building project seems to be affected by corruption.
Corrupt government officials in our nation seem to be more interested in investing our limited resources in projects that line their pocket, than in truly building a better Trinidad and Tobago. To this day our nation lacks a modern mass transit system that would ease the traffic on the nation’s roads.
However it can be argued that Trinidad and Tobago’s infrastructure is by no means archaic or underdeveloped. According to the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Global Competitiveness Report 2013-14 Trinidad and Tobago scores high with regards to the reliability of the electricity supply (ranked 50th) and other infrastructural indices.
That being said there is still much improvement to be had before Trinidad and Tobago can call its infrastructure first world.
Corruption is therefore the root cause of every major problem that plagues our society, whether it be crime or poor infrastructural development.
It is therefore imperative that all efforts be made to combat corruption and change our culture from one of moral turpitude to one of righteousness and ethical conduct. The future of our nation and even the very lives of many of our people depend on winning the war against corruption.
The cost of corruption in Trinbagonian society can only be measured by the torrents of innocent blood that our nation’s soil has drunk till it can bear no more. Our founding father Eric Williams envisioned Port of Spain as being the Athens of the Caribbean and it would have been his desire that we become a model state. However it can be argued that we are far from being a model state due to the culture of corruption that plagues our society.
The abundance of drug money flowing through the criminal underworld like the mythical river Styx has led to gang wars. Gang wars have led to the assassination of individuals whom are deemed a threat to the underworld such as the esteemed Dana Seetahal S.C.
Corruption is defined by Transparency International as “the abuse of entrusted power for private gain “and by the Merriam-Webster Dictionary as “impairment of integrity, virtue, or moral principle”.
Corruption is arguably the root cause of much of the death and suffering in our society. Corruption entails practices such as Money Laundering, Drug Trafficking, bribery of public officials and other such immoral practices which enable the criminal underworld to thrive.
On the Global Corruption Perceptions Index 2013 Trinidad and Tobago ranks 83rd out of 177 nations, on par with Jamaica. By comparison our Caribbean neighbor Barbados ranks 15th which is a higher rank the United States at 19th.
The GCP index reveals a clear correlation between a low corruption perception and a high level of human development and other factors associated with first world status. This corroborates the argument that corruption is a causal factor of poverty, crime and underdevelopment.
The GCP index also reveals that countries with major drug and crime problems are ranked lowest on the index, the example being Venezuela with a rank of 160th. This shows that corruption in society can lead to gang warfare and a high murder rate.
Trinidad and Tobago ranks in the top 10 in the world for homicides per capita according to a UN Information Service report for 2013. According to the United States Department of State Overall Crime and Safety Report (OSAC) 2013 the murder rate in Trinidad and Tobago is driven primarily by gang and drug related activities.
The problem of narcotics and gang warfare in our nation is arguably the grimmest manifestation of corruption that our society has to battle. The narcotics trade helps to fund gangs and allows for the importation of guns and ammunition.
The money brought in by the narcotics trade is the driving force behind most of the serious crime in our nation. Many corrupt acts are funded by drug monies including the assassination and intimidation of private citizens or the bribery of public officials. This in turn weakens the rule of law and by extension weakens our democracy and our nation as a whole.
Also linked to the narcotics trade is the crime of money laundering. Money laundering is the process by which cash and funds obtained through criminal activity is transformed into seemingly legitimate assets. It tends to involve complicated schemes whereby illicit cash may be sent through many different bank accounts and given to third parties to purchase legitimate assets such as real estate or stocks and bonds.
With reference to the Financial Investigation Unit of Trinidad and Tobago’s Annual Report for 2013, 19% of all suspected specified offenses investigated by the FIU involved money laundering this represents the largest single category of offenses investigated by the FIU.
In 2012 the total value of suspicious transaction reports submitted to the FIU totaled TT$ 638,844,310. In 2013 TT 1.12 billion attempted transactions were intercepted and reported to the FIU. These figures give an indication of the sheer amount of illicit funds are moving around in our economy, most of which come from the drug trade.
The evidence showing the link between corruption and crime in our nation is so overwhelming that no sensible individual would attempt to counter argue this assertion.
Corruption also has taken its toll on the infrastructural development of Trinidad and Tobago. Consider the fact that Port of Spain’s streets regularly become rivers during the rainy season. It can therefore be said that Trinidad and Tobago’s infrastructure is far from the standard of a model state.
The shadow of corruption and mismanagement has always stalked our nation’s major building projects. The incomplete Brian Lara cricket stadium at Tarouba which has cost over 1.1 billion to date exemplifies the trend that major government building project seems to be affected by corruption.
Corrupt government officials in our nation seem to be more interested in investing our limited resources in projects that line their pocket, than in truly building a better Trinidad and Tobago. To this day our nation lacks a modern mass transit system that would ease the traffic on the nation’s roads.
However it can be argued that Trinidad and Tobago’s infrastructure is by no means archaic or underdeveloped. According to the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Global Competitiveness Report 2013-14 Trinidad and Tobago scores high with regards to the reliability of the electricity supply (ranked 50th) and other infrastructural indices.
That being said there is still much improvement to be had before Trinidad and Tobago can call its infrastructure first world.
Corruption is therefore the root cause of every major problem that plagues our society, whether it be crime or poor infrastructural development.
It is therefore imperative that all efforts be made to combat corruption and change our culture from one of moral turpitude to one of righteousness and ethical conduct. The future of our nation and even the very lives of many of our people depend on winning the war against corruption.
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