Raphael John-Lall
When public sector companies and institutions fail, they not only affect economies but societies in general.
This is the view of economist and attorney-at-law Dr Terrence Farrell who spoke last Wednesday during the Caribbean Corporate Governance Institute’s (CCGI) governance week which was held virtually.
“I want to make the point that the governance principles apply to entities that have significant impact on our societies, on our economies, on our policy. And that very often, the failures of those institutions, when they don’t work well, in other words, there are failures of governance in those institutions. The impact on our societies is really quite serious,” Farrell said.
The CCGI theme this year was “Governance In a Volatile World.”
The panel Farrell spoke on was entitled “Governing for Impact: Strengthening Accountability in Public Institutions.”
He gave examples like the Securities and Exchange Commission, the judiciary, the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP), the procurement regulator and Integrity Commission.
“Now, some of these are set up by specific pieces of legislation. Typically, when we look at the legislation setting up these institutions, they are very, very short on articulating how those institutions are in fact supposed to work. There’s a lot of latitude in respect of how they impact managers.”
He referred to state enterprises like the Sports Company of T&T (SportTT) and allegations of corruption and mismanagement which surrounded it.
“The judge fined the directors of that entity because, in his view, they were supposed to act like a company and did not do their due diligence in respect of the project at hand, and they were fined for not behaving like company directors. But the issue there really is that the argument was that I am a state enterprise, and therefore I take directions from my political director, or from my line minister. Whereas, in fact, there is no nexus in law between a line minister and the board of directors of that particular state enterprise. We have similar problems in respect of many other public entities.”
He also called for term limits for the heads of some public institutions which he argued would bring more transparency.
“We are talking about, for example, the idea that you should have some limits for people who are in these institutions. I was a member of the Constitutional Reform Commission in 2024. Our previous Chief Justice in Trinidad, served as Chief Justice for almost 15 years. We said that a Chief Justice should serve only for seven years. If you want to stay on the Court after that, you should go back to the Court of Appeal. Look at term limits for people in these institutions.”
He said on the other hand, there are instances where the tenure of the service commissioners is, in fact, too short. Many of them are appointed for two years. And in a two-year period, there’s very little that managers can do in an organisation in that period of time.
He used the example of Singapore as a successfully run economy and society in general and said T&T’s leaders can learn from this example.
“It is about how one man and his party set an ethos for how things are supposed to operate in Singapore. And in a situation where in Singapore, they had an anti-corruption bureau and they still do. There was nobody who was exempt from its operation.
“They were empowered to look at and to scrutinise the behavior and the actions and the conduct of everybody from the President, the Prime Minister down. So that’s it. So you need to have a proper foundation of laws, which I think in many instances, we don’t have, with the exception of Jamaica’s Public Debt Management Act (PDMA).”
Environment for investments
Kelly Greenaway, senior vice president, Legal, Regulatory and Corporate Affairs, Port Authority of Jamaica, who also spoke, urged T&T and other Caricom members states to adopt reforms that would make their economies suitable for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI).
“We’re already existing in a very globalised world, and it’s going to increasingly become that way. And the reality is if we want to continue participating in the international markets in a real way, in a beneficial way, and we want to ensure that our passports have a certain amount of strength behind them, we are going to have to be able to meet certain minimum standards.”
She also spoke about implementing the right type of legislation that would make both public and private sector organisations more efficient and so would enable Caribbean businesses and people in general to participate in the international financial system.
“And gradually with time, I think politicians will generally have to accept this, and that is going to become a serious motivator for development. Hopefully, these kinds of laws when the citizenry gets restive about the fact that, you know, every time they want to send a bank transfer to another country, it’s an absolute nightmare. Or, you know, if they want to receive money, it’s an absolute nightmare. Those kinds of issues are going to be impacting us in a very real way more and more, and that is going to push for the kind of accountability.”
Economic insecurity
The CCGI also sent out a media statement saying internationally acclaimed management thinker and author, Professor Henry Mintzberg, delivered a thought-provoking keynote address at the opening ceremony of Governance Week 2026 last Sunday, urging leaders to rethink the economic and governance models that increasingly prioritise short-term growth over people and communities.
Speaking to an audience of directors, executives, governance professionals and policymakers, Mintzberg argued that the growing inequality and economic insecurity being experienced around the world cannot be solved by relying solely on traditional corporate models that focus heavily on quarterly earnings and shareholder returns.
“Large corporations are often trapped in an endless pursuit of growth,” he explained. “Once companies go public, they are expected to continually deliver increasing quarterly results. They have to keep feeding the beast.”
He suggested that alternative ownership and governance structures, particularly cooperatives, offer important lessons for creating more inclusive and resilient economies.
Mintzberg proposed that solutions to many of society’s challenges may be found in strengthening the “plural sector”, the vast network of non-governmental organisations, community-based organisations, charities and social enterprises that exist between government and business.
He stated that “co-operatives work” noting that they may provide part of the solution to the growing challenges of job insecurity, widening inequality and the increasing inability of many people to achieve a decent standard of living.
Speaking during the discussion, CCGI CEO, Kamla Rampersad de Silva, said Professor Mintzberg’s message had been both inspiring and empowering.
“We are quite heartened by Professor Mintzberg’s contribution because it has given us back a sense of power and responsibility. Too often, we look at the challenges around us and feel powerless, believing that solutions lie in the hands of others. His message reminds us that we each have a role to play in fixing the problems facing our communities and organisations, rather than seeing ourselves as victims of change.”
