(Barbados Nation) The controversial Prevention Of Corruption Bill 2012 has gone too far and threatens to discourage people from making a worthy contribution to public life, says Senator Geoffrey Cave.
Comparing it to similar legislation in Britain where the scrutiny involved was “nothing like the level of intrusion here”, Cave said Supreme Court judges, Independent senators and even members of school boards would fall under unprecedented scrutiny and be on the list of those required to declare their assets which, in his view, was unnecessary.
“We’re casting a net here trying to catch sharks and what is going to happen is that nice animals like porpoises are all going to get caught in the net, and the result is they’re going to leave the Atlantic and go and serve in the Pacific,” he told yesterday’s pre-lunch sitting of the Senate.
The Independent senator said not only was the detail required of public officers excessive but it was “a form of undeserved punishment”.
