MAJOR CASE BACKLOG AT INTEGRITY COMMISSION

THE Integrity Commission has a major backlog of cases.

An audit has found some outstanding matters dating back as long as two decades.

In one case, the subject of a complaint was not a person in public life.

In other matters, there was “non-examination of the specific allegations and the gathering of the relevant evidence,” the Commission reported.

In addition, “extended time and effort were being expended in peripheral matters.”

An audit in 2021 revealed 462 files, of which 92 were initiated more than 20 years before.

A total of 15 investigations went back to 2013.

There were “certain shortcomings” in the management of complaints, the Commission said.

Five files were missing.

In one file classified as inactive, no investigations had been conducted.

Many of the files were classified as fragmented, meaning that there are different components filed separately with no cross-referencing.

The audit was undertaken after the appointment of commissioners led by Chairman Professor Rajendra Ramlogan.

Vice Chairman is Frederick Gilkes, and other commissioners are Lyndon James, Sandra Honore, and Eleanor Bridgeman-Volney.

The report stated that there were 4,500 outstanding declarations and statements of registrable interests.

There were limited employees, it was revealed.

The Commission questioned the performance of its investigators.

Performance parameters were set up for the Investigations Unit.

The Commission said it was “distressing” that the Compliance Unit was unable to identify the number of declarations and statements of registrable interests from 2014 to 2016 received from people in public life and yet to be certified.

The Compliance Unit has accepted the challenge of becoming more performance-driven, it was reported.