Government Travel Abuse

A perk for government ministers and political cronies who are given the gift of high level civil service positions is that they can fly for free on any airline courtesy of tax payers. They are allowed to board early, relax in their first class seats, and watch as tax payers pass through the first class cabin to the economy cabin. How ironic! It is customary to see government ministers and other leaders of statutory agencies sitting in this first class section. However, providing their entourage with first class seating is not how tax payers expect their moneys to be spent. Colin Campbell's entourage first class seating accommodations on March 21's flight from Miami demonstrates this travel expense misuse and would certainly not have occurred if the fares for his employees were coming out of his own pocket.  So, in a country that is experiencing high financial burden and citizens are asked to "tighten their belts", it is mind boggling to see such  action that not only shows hypocrisy but a lack of respect for tax payers.

Here We Go Again!

Colin Campbell was recently handed the position as the Managing Director of the JUTC. Indeed, he was handed the position under the pretense that he went through a fair pre-employment process according to "Reverend" Garnett Roper. It certainly cannot be a fair process when a candidate is so closely associated with the persons who are making the decision for the post. Quite frankly, it was a waste of time for the other persons who "Reverend" Roper claims were in contention for the position. How could such candidates ever have been in close contention when "Reverend" Roper indicated that Campbell had already possessed the experience from his previous government position and that he is a "such" a good communicator. Apparently honesty, trustworthy, integrity were not key words that may have been considered as important for selecting the candidate for the job.  "Reverend" Roper even had the audacity to indicate that the JLP had engaged in the same practices when they were in office. So, does that make the practice right? For a person who claims to be a man of God, it is quite ironic that instead of taking the high road and leading by example he is taking the stance that "them do it, so we can do it too".  So, how can the most qualified persons who possess the education, experience, and integrity gain high level government positions when each political party continues to give these jobs to friends and family?  This problem is quite evident now as the incompetency of certain persons in prominent government positions are evident as they continue to make countless errors that ultimately affects the country. There was an opportunity to demonstrate high moral standards in selecting a Managing Director of the JUTC, but political biases overshadowed ethical judgement.