Opposition Leader Tracy Panton is urging public officers to stand their ground. In an interview with News Five, she’s calling on government workers to resist political pressure and speak out against what she describes as corruption within the system. Panton is also commending those who’ve already come forward, despite the risks to their careers and personal lives. But her message is clear, don’t carry out orders you believe are unlawful, because when questionable deals come to light, it’s often public officers who face the fallout.
Tracy Panton, Leader of the Opposition
“To the public officers who have risked their jobs, who have provided evidence of the kind of corruption on steroids that we see under the PUP, we thank you, we applaud you. You’ve done that without any protection. You’ve done that in terms of putting your jobs on the line. You’ve done so at great personal sacrifice. To the public officers who fear their jobs, who feel intimidated when their political superior or their work superior makes requests from them that they know flouts the law, we ask you, think about how you become personally liable for that level of corruption because we know it works, Shane. We know it work. The, the person who facilitates the request is the person that normally takes the hardest licks. A public officer will not act on his or her own instructions. They take instructions from their minister. They take instructions from their CEO. They take admin– instructions from their administrative and financial officers Recording clerks, financial clerks must take instructions from their FOs. And it is– I say to them, “Walk with caution. Remember your first obligation is to the people of this country. It’s not to some political hierarchy.”
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