THE ANACONDA AND THE PRIVATE SECTOR
Published: Newsday March 4, 2002

RICHARD JOSEPH
GENERAL MANAGER,
CARIBBEAN BUSINESS SERVICES LIMITED

Operation Anaconda has been presented as the first in a series of initiatives to stem the rising tide of crime in the society. While the plan of which it is a part is wide ranging, it seems to focus more on crimes against the person and property and does not cover economic crimes.

Economic crimes include not only fraud and corruption, but also the flagrant breach of laws and regulations designed to protect persons and environments from the negative impact of business activity.

Can we have a situation in which personal and property crime is reduced considerably while economic crime remains rampant? Will the wider society tolerate the aggressive treatment of bandits and thieves from poor areas while the perpetrators of apparently victimless crimes are left to do as they please? Several recent callers to our talk shows have tried to articulate a sense of unfairness by asking that Operation Anaconda cover the middle and upper-class residential areas as well as Beetham and Laventille.

It is not that economic crimes are ignored. Highly publicised investigations into corruption receive widespread attention, as well as the instances of fraud when they are found. The more insidious and debilitating type of economic crime are the activities that damage our infrastructure, our environment or rob people of what is rightfully theirs whether or not covered by contractual obligations.

A wide range of examples can be found in the quarry industry where the Ministry of Energy is attempting to implement the provision of the recently introduced Mining Act. In the first instance, there are allegations of under-reporting of quantities extracted so as to avoid the payment of royalties to the Government. As we go further, we find instances of immediate environmental damage from the out flow of the polluted water used in washing operations into our water courses. This polluted water creates problems for WASA who has to process this water for consumption. Further long-term damage is done to the physical environment by practises that do not provide for restoration and leave the landscape scarred and unusable for any other activity. The industry is not without opportunity for censure for the treatment of employees as well. The Ministry is meeting with resistance in persuading operators to limit the maximum time operators can work to eight hours. This is being done to reduce the risk of accidents that could arise when tired operators, complex machinery and dangerous operations are combined. All of these activities rob the Government, employees and future generations of something that is rightfully theirs.

Economic crime contributes directly to the spread of crimes against the person and property. Employees who work during the day in an environment that pays little respect to the law have difficulty in going home and bringing up children who would respect the law. In their experience, justice does not apply to all, only some. Our institutions would be seen as hollow and our leaders self-seeking.

We will only achieve the development that we aspire to when there is widespread adherence to all of our laws, and all breaches are prosecuted with the same level of vigilance. Any other way risks the development of two societies, one to which laws apply and one to which they do not.

The private sector has been vocal in its concern about the level of crime and its effect upon the economy. It should widen its concern to all forms of economic crime, or it will lose its moral authority to make a contribution. If this happens we will all be swallowed by an Anaconda.