The Integrity Commission is mulling the publication of the names of public servants who have not submitted declarations for the year ended June 2000 and the body is planning an education programme on its functions.

And despite the anecdotal stories and letters in the media about corruption, Rev Randolph George, chairman of the Integrity Commission is not surprised that his commission has not been able to find unexplained increases in the assets of public officials covered by the Integrity Commission Act.

So too - for a different reason - is GAP/WPA parliamentarian, Sheila Holder, who does not believe that the commission has the capacity to investigate these claims.

Holder told Stabroek News that she knew of many people who were required to make declarations under the act, but had not been doing so.

Deonarine Shivsankar, secretary to the commission told Stabroek News that consideration was being given to publishing the names of the delinquent persons who had not yet submitted declarations for the year ended June 30, 2000. That declaration would cover their assets as at the end of December 31, 1999. The act provides for prosecution for non-compliance, but Shivsankar said that the commission was considering publication of the names as an intermediate step.

Bishop George told Stabroek News that the act did not require submissions by contractors and others about whom allegations are frequently made. Also, he pointed out that if the public servants who were required to make the declarations were behaving corruptly, they would hardly include their "earnings" in their declarations.

Holder said that the commission was neither constitutionally constituted nor independent, given the presence of the wife of a government minister as a member, even though she respected her professionalism. Moreover, she said, the commission did not have the investigative capacity to respond to suspicions of corruption.

The commission has just one accountant on its staff, Shivsankar, and the Attorney General's Chambers provides the services of a legal officer as necessary.

Bishop George said too that the commission had completed its report for the year ended December 31, 2000 and submitted it to President Bharrat Jagdeo. Stabroek News understands that the report for the year ended December 31, 1999 was also sent to President Jagdeo during last year. The President is yet to make these reports public.

To raise awareness about the work of the commission, Bishop George said that it would soon be embarking on a public education programme involving placing posters in government offices and other public buildings. The posters, he said, would describe those persons who were legally bound under the act to make annual declarations to the commission and the code of conduct, which should guide their behaviour.

Commenting on the involvement of the public, Shivsankar, to whom Bishop George directed Stabroek News for details about the commission's work said that many of the complaints received did not fall under the purview of the commission. However, he disclosed that there were three complaints that it could properly pursue. In two of those, he said, the commission had sought the assistance of the Auditor General and the Guyana Revenue Authority in its investigations.

He explained that the referrals to the Auditor General and Guyana Revenue Authority were made because the complaints involved issues which came within their purview.

Shivsankar said that if the commission found an increase in assets which it felt needed explanation after a comparative analysis of one year's figures with another, the person concerned was asked to provide the supporting documentation.

Legislation establishing the commission was enacted in 1997 but the commission was only operationalised in March 1998. It has been receiving declarations for the years ending December 1997, 1998, 1999 and 2000.