Mr Dickson Igwe. Photo: Provided

This Old Boy Journalist has been reflecting on the matter of PUBLIC TRUST in the Virgin Islands of recent. On the morning of Tuesday June 3, 2014, he asked himself a question. Was PUBLIC TRUST measurable, what would it show?

Well, that was not an easy one to answer. Why, because there has never been a scientific assessment of public trust in the Virgin Islands. In any event, how does one measure public trust in national institutions and agencies? He will attempt an answer.

The measurement of public trust could start with a simple questionnaire. The questionnaire would ask some pertinent questions to an accurate sample of the general population on matters of trust. It would do this to gage which group or sub group is the most or least trusted in a community or society.

An index of the public’s trust would be the result. This index would be a measure of the level of public trust for various institutions and even individuals: from the police force to the church, or the local car salesman to the powerful senator.

A measurement of the public trust would assess the level of trust a certain group or even individual possesses in the eyes, heart, and mind of Joe and Jane Public. And yes, assessing public trust is very abstract idea. There is no clear mathematical formula in quantifying trust. It cannot be a concrete assessment. Trust is a very subjective matter indeed: trust levels change by the moment, minute, hour, and day. Then how does one measure the varying degrees of trust: from a high to a low, to a nonexistent level of trust?

One bad incident can cause the public trust level for a government organization to plummet; so could a single careless act by a normally diligent public servant, cause him or her to tarnish a great reputation. A sexual affair can bring the public trust for a politician to the edge of the precipice. A flight disaster can ruin a highly regarded airline known for its culture of safety and security. The list goes on. A high percentage of trust could be put at 75% and above; a low level of trust, at 40% and below, of those taking part in the trust survey. Again, this is all subjective and speculative.

A typical question on a Virgin Islands questionnaire on public trust might be this one: ‘who would you trust the most to look after taxpayer cash of the two political parties, and their leaders?’ Add, which political party is to be trusted most to act in the public interest, as opposed to its own selfish political interests?

Another might be: ‘in the giving out of contracts who would be the least likely to take a backhander or bribe of the current crop of politicians and senior public officers?’ And which public official would most likely turn down the opportunity to travel to a far away destination were that travel unnecessary, in order to save public funds?

The more specific the questions asked, the more specific the responses, and the more effective the public trust measure.

Then the index could be benchmarked with public trust measurements of other countries. Benchmarking means that the public trust measurements of various countries must use comparable parameters. That is: only countries that match economic, social and cultural features across the board with each other, can be benchmarked, or placed in the same category for comparison.

Only then, for example, would a showing of 60% in the Virgin Islands for trust in a particular agency of government, when compared with a benchmarked Norway, where 80% trust the same government agency, be considered a true and fair assessment.

OK. What would this public trust measure show? One can only speculate. But this Observer of all that is and ever will be, from his own very narrow experience, will place older educators in these islands at the very top on the index: that is educators that shepherded the present education system into place and who were born between the late 1920s and late 1940s. This to him is the group that would most be trusted in the Virgin Islands, were a scientific survey conducted.

At the very bottom of the trust index, or trust measurement table, he will place lawyers, politicians, flashy church preachers, and ex convicts. That is clearly a very subjective placement. But it is his own simple opinion on what he believes the outcome of a trust assessment would be, based on his very flawed observations.

One pointer to the lack of trust for politicians is the question of independence. Ask anyone the question: whether the Virgin Islands is ready for independence? The response is frequently uniform. "Of course not!" 

Joe Public would rather have the QUEEN’S REPRESENTATIVE have final charge of the land than a local and native. Why is that? Well, check the public trust measure to find out: forgot - there isn’t one. Joe Public will state on the matter of independence: that he would rather trust the man from Whitehall than the native son from Tortola.

Public trust is important. Why? Because it is a measure of the confidence the public has in its government and various institutions. The fact is that successful economies tend to host populations that have a higher trust in their public institutions, than those that are frequently under water economically, and where corruption is rife. Corruption and impropriety are less tolerated in a society such as Norway for example, than a country like Nigeria.

Governance is a two way street. Both government and governed are part of the process. Without public trust, governance becomes a very difficult affair indeed. This Observer will state this: the higher the level of public trust for a government, the more effective that government, and the stronger the society and economy.

Dickson Igwe is a current affairs columnist and scholar of strategy. Connect with Dickson Igwe on Twitter and FACEBOOK.