MORE?THAN?TWO?YEARS after Parliament signalled its intent to upgrade the 83-year-old Prevention Of Corruption Act, debate will resume in the House of Assembly today at 10 a.m.
A revised draft of the legislation has emerged from a 12-member Joint Select Committee of both Houses of Parliament to which the bill had been referred on?July 19, 2011, when Members of Parliament on either side of the aisle raised concerns about some of its provisions.
The Joint Select Committee?was asked to determine whether the bill as drafted, and which would replace the original act that came into force on June 21, 1929, and amended in 1971, effectively fulfilled its comprehensive and multi-disciplinary approach to preventing and combating corruption and preventing damage to Barbados’ democratic institutions, the management of its public affairs, national economy and the rule of law, and whether the provisions for financial disclosure would deter citizens from serving in public life.
One of the key provisions of the bill is a declaration of assets by every person in public life including?Members of Parliament, their spouses and children under 18.
