By Nakinskie Robinson
A new national poll, conducted by Don Anderson's Market Research Services Limited, has revealed that more than 60 per cent of Jamaicans believe those in high places have failed to rein in corruption over the last five years.
Asked about their perceived level of corruption in the country at this time, compared with five years ago, 65 per cent of the 1,012 respondents said there is more corruption in the country today.
Another 17.7 per cent of respondents are of the view, on the other hand, that the level of corruption is about the same as five years ago.
Only 11.1 per cent believe there is less corruption in the country today.
The remaining 5.5 per cent were unable to say whether they believe the level of corruption had gone down, remained the same, or worsened.
The poll was conducted from September 27 to October 3. It has a margin of error of plus or minus three per cent, at the 95 percent confidence level.
The overwhelming majority's perception differs from that of the findings of the 2023 Corruption Perceptions Index by Transparency International.
Of the 180 countries ranked, Jamaica is positioned 69 with a score of 44 out of 100.
That score remains unchanged since 2020.
On the CPI, zero means highly corrupt while 100 indicates a clean record.
In 2019, Jamaica held a score of 43, indicating a relatively unchanged corruption perception from 2019 to 2023.
According to Transparency International, collusion among the powerful, overwhelming dominance of the Executive over the Legislature, which weakens Parliament's oversight capacities, creating conditions ripe for abuse and corruption, have contributed to the level of perceived corruption.
It said the Executive branch's failure to close gaps in the governance framework weakens the pursuit of corruption cases involving organized crime and fosters impunity among corrupt elites.
The global corruption watchdog group also revealed that in 2019, 49 per cent of people believed that corruption had increased in the last year while 17 percent of public service users paid a bribe in the previous 12 months.
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