Manufacturers try to leave no stone unturned in promoting a product for public use because they know that people need to feel confident about quality since a hidden flaw could prove detrimental for the customer and the company producing the item.

Even though that should be the code of ethics for every business serving the public, all too often a flaw sometimes is kept secret to protect an image designed to have consumers believe their product is safe.

In the motor car industry, a number of people have paid with their lives for factory errors in some models, forcing massive recalls and millions of dollars in lawsuits.

In some instances, factory executives were aware of flaws but failed to take action until it was too late.

With politics, transparency has always been an issue because the very word means a clear picture of a particular process.

Credibility takes a hit when there is even a perception that transparency has been bypassed, whether it is the case or not.

Leaders and administrators of public affairs, no matter what challenges they are confronted with, should always operate in the bright light of transparency to avoid losing credibility and trust.

In politics, this can be a huge mountain to climb, especially when a detected wrong could result in irreparable career damage with exposure.

With political parties this becomes more acute since party allegiance is often held higher than breaking ranks to defend a principle or value even if it is the right thing to do.

When operating in utter transparency, even mistakes can be better accepted by the public as long as they are assured there was no blatant attempt to mislead them.

Many of the controversial matters of the day might not have become so contentious had absolute transparency been at the forefront at every step of the way.

The current dilemma facing Government and the Corporation of Hamilton regarding how certain business transactions were handled by the Corporation might have been avoided with full transparency.

At least that is the view of most observers, right or wrong.

No matter how one wishes to cut it, the public has been forced to watch in a helpless state what appears to have been highly questionable initiatives by the City Corporation, culminating with Government taking control to stop the bleeding.

That move in itself is troublesome because it sends a clear signal that such action was taken because too many questions were left hanging with no clear answers.

The situation is yet to be resolved.

The OBA Government has many challenges in trying to put Bermuda on a better economic track but even with their best efforts, they must also be careful to keep transparency out front if they wish to avoid the fate which befell the Opposition Progressive Labour Party when the electorate felt they had abandoned transparency on financial matters that sent alarm bells sounding in the Auditor General’s chambers.

The public gave their verdict through the ballot box.

It could happen to any Government if transparency is allowed to take a back seat in conducting the people’s business.

In America, public perception of missing transparency in the recent death of a man while in police custody created reaction in Baltimore and throughout the United States that was unprecedented and six officers involved have been charged with a range of offences including second degree murder.

The State prosecutor Marilyn Mosby and her team, which included representatives from the Baltimore police department, probed details surrounding the death of Freddie Gray and concluded that the facts supported filing charges against those officers connected with events that led to his death.

Of course, this will all have to play out in a court of law.

No one anticipated charges so early in the proceedings but when transparency takes centre stage, there is a brighter light on any process in seeking justice and fairness for all.

Back home, we will make better progress in the struggle to build a better Bermuda if our leaders never lose sight of transparency no matter what is revealed.

If in the end it benefits all of the Bermudian people then it will be worth it and, hopefully, transparency will cease to be so elusive in the challenges we face.