Three priorities
Editorial
IN RESPONSE to the need for increased productivity and the challenge of international competitiveness for economic survival, we expect the Guyana Government to firmly proceed with some of its already articulated priorities for 2000. These must obviously include public sector reform and management, an investment code to inspire even more confidence among local and international entrepreneurs, and the long overdue establishment of the very much needed Revenue Authority. In all of these, the cooperation of the social partners, the labour movement and private sector in particular, would be necessary. Given the government's commitment to encouraging the tripartite approach and, more generally, involvement of civil society in the development process, it is to be expected that organised labour, and public sector unions in particular, would, in turn, seek to promote cooperation - as the private sector is doing - rather than confrontation. As renewed efforts are made to speedily resolve the legal hurdle for the creation of the Revenue Authority - a development that should not have happened in the first place - the promised tripartite committee on public sector reform must be established and functioning. The recent statement by the President of the Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU), Mr Patrick Yarde, that his union would not be a part of any tripartite committee on public sector reform that includes the private sector, clearly cannot be taken seriously. He is known to be a hostile trade union leader to the present government. This is not a secret. But he should not so confuse his functions and compromise the integrity of the GPSU on a matter as vital as public sector reform by wanting to swim against the tide of private sector involvement in such a process. The GPSU President has been around long enough to know that across the Caribbean Community it is now the norm for governments to involve the private sector, also a major social partner, in public sector reform and management. Just a few months ago, he participated in an International Labour Organisation seminar, along with the former and current Permanent Secretary of the Public Service Ministry that focused on public service reform in the Irish republic with a relevance to the Caribbean. The Caribbean Centre for Development Administration (CARICAD), an institution of the Caribbean Community currently involved in advising the government on strategic planning for public service management in the Office of the President, could perhaps be invited to expand its role to make inputs in the proposed tripartite committee on public sector reform in this country. Neither the GPSU nor the Private Sector Commission could possibly be unaware of the integral role a regional body like CARICAD has played and continues to play in a number of CARICOM states in helping to advance the process of public sector reform and management. Those who harbour reservations against private sector involvement in the proposed public sector reform committee, as recently announced by Dr Roger Luncheon, Head of the Presidential Secretariat, should immediately inform themselves of the experience around the region. They would come to face, possibly with the help of the Caribbean Congress of Labour (CCL), the enlightened view taken by trade unions in countries like Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, Grenada, Dominica and The Bahamas, in cooperative efforts by governments and their social partners to promote public sector reform. Clearly Guyana must not become an exception. It also needs to move on. The government has a responsibility to ensure efficient management of the public service to meet the challenges of a rapidly changing regional and international environment. On sober reflection, the GPSU President would, we presume, appreciate that since public sector reform is now inevitable, the tripartite approach that also includes the private sector, must begin. The Head of the Presidential Secretariat made the very relevant connection when he pointed out that in this era of competitive wages in the public service, this also implies some identity with market forces - aspects of market philosophy and procedures in delivery of goods and services. As we see it, neither public sector reform, creation of the Revenue Authority, or establishment of the promised investment code must be delayed much longer.
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