Executive Director of Jamaica’s Integrity Commission, Craig Beresford, is urging Caribbean countries to strengthen collaboration and align their anti-corruption laws, warning that fragmented approaches undermine efforts to tackle corruption.
Addressing a press conference at the 12th Annual Commonwealth Caribbean Association of Integrity Commissions and Anti-Corruption Bodies (CCAICAB) Conference here this week, Beresford argued that corruption should be treated as a regional crisis requiring a coordinated response from governments and oversight agencies.
“The time has come to treat anti-corruption as a regional public good,” he said, noting that a cohesive approach would strengthen the fight against corruption throughout the region.
Beresford said differences in anti-corruption laws and enforcement mechanisms among Caribbean states can hamper regional efforts, making it more difficult for agencies to combat increasingly sophisticated forms of corruption.
He outlined the Integrity Commission’s approach, which focuses on prevention, detection, investigation and prosecution, and highlighted efforts to advance Jamaica’s National Anti-Corruption Strategy through greater stakeholder engagement and public education.
The Commission is also investing in technology to strengthen its detection capabilities, including big-data analytics, forensic tools and enhanced case-management systems aimed at identifying and investigating suspicious activities more effectively.
He stressed the importance of partnerships with agencies such as Jamaica’s Major Organised Crime and Anti-Corruption Agency (MOCA), saying joint investigations and information-sharing arrangements have helped bolster the country’s anti-corruption efforts.
Meanwhile, MOCA Director-General Colonel Desmond Edwards said advances in technology have transformed the corruption landscape, with fraud, money laundering and other illicit activities increasingly shifting into cyberspace.
He said the trend accelerated during the COVID-19 pandemic as businesses and consumers relied more heavily on digital platforms, prompting MOCA to expand its cyber-forensics capabilities and establish specialised cyber-investigation and data-analysis teams.
Edwards revealed that one investigation required analysts to examine approximately 17 terabytes of data, illustrating the growing complexity and scale of modern corruption probes. (CMC)
