Danville Walker - Colin Hamilton/Freelance Photographer

Commissioner of Customs Danville Walker is talking tough again.

He says he will not be lenient with corrupt customs officers who are caught.

The tough-talking Walker, who has only been at the department three months, says his administration has already been making some changes at the department.

"We have moved around quite a number of persons. Not every movement was done because of that (corruption) ... but, when I look in front of me to 'fix customs', I don't fear anybody demonstrating at Customs House; I don't fear any threats that come my way," he says says.

"The thing I fear most is the bureaucracy that literally ties the hands of the managers and I believe that there is a lot more that can be done and we can do and we are going to do it," Walker told The Gleaner this week.

He says, while it will be challenging to catch up with some of the corrupt officers, the de-partment will be pursuing them vigorously.

Corrupt officers

"We have corrupt officers in customs and, unless you can find them red-handed, the ones you tend to catch are the stupid ones. These are educated people, but they are corrupt and therefore they are smart and they know the customs procedures and therefore catching them in the act is not as simple," Walker explains.

On Wednesday, the customs boss declared, in an article published in The Gleaner, that he would be taking a reinvigorated stance against corruption at the department starting September 1. He said he would be instituting stringent penalties for those persons who try to evade paying customs duties.

Evade duties

People who evade duties will have to pay three times the value of the goods or have their goods forfeited.

"Mitigation and leniency only lead to the perception of corruption in Jamaica," Walker wrote in his article. "My managers tell me they have been taught to suggest a penalty that encourages payment. All that does is encourage more corruption."