(Trinidad Express) Jack Warner’s continued presence in the country’s Cabinet amid allegations of bribery is believed to be an integral element in the perception of corruption in Trinidad and Tobago being at its all-time worst.
This statement was made by Trinidad and Tobago Transparency Institute (TTTI) chairman, Richard Joseph, at a press conference to announce the results of the 2011 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) yesterday.
Trinidad and Tobago has been ranked 91 out of 183 with a score of 3.2 out of ten, the results of this years CPI has stated.
It is the lowest ranking this country has ever attained since being included in the CPI for the first time in 2001.
In 2001 Trinidad and Tobago was ranked 31 out of 91 countries and scored 5.3 out of ten.
Last year this country was ranked 73 out of 178 countries with a score of 3.6.
Joseph described the change in ranking from 73 to 91 as a “precipitous drop”.
The CPI ranks countries based on how corrupt their public sector is perceived to be and is a combination of surveys drawing on corruption-related data collected by a variety of reputable institutions . It reflects the views of observers from around the world, including experts living and working in the countries evaluated, Joseph said.
The CPI uses a simple form of indexing to arrive at a score ranging between zero, perceived to be the most corrupt, and ten, perceived to be the least corrupt.
The surveys used to prepare the 2011 ranking covered the period from December 2009 to September 2011, Joseph said.
“The current index places Trinidad and Tobago behind Jamaica which it previously outranked. Barbados and Dominica maintain their rankings well ahead of Trinidad and Tobago at 16 and 44 respectively and new entrants Bahamas, St Lucia and St Vincent also ranked at 21, 25 and 36 respectively,” Joseph said.
Of the 11 CARIFORUM countries ranked in the CPI, five were above the midpoint score of five points. Trinidad and Tobago scored 3.2.
“Anything below the score of five is considered as a strong perception that corruption is a problem or a challenge in that country,” Joseph said.
