Permanent Secretaries role under scrutiny
By Robert Bazil
THE recruitment, appointment and retention of Permanent Secretaries will be re-examined as the first step in a plan to restructure the public service, Head of the Presidential Secretariat, Dr Roger Luncheon announced yesterday. "The days when the public service represented all that is needed is rapidly drawing to a close or has already drawn to a close", he said at the opening of a workshop sponsored by the government and the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB). Luncheon, also Cabinet Secretary, maintained that management skills and knowledge have to be in the forefront. "The contract of service of permanent secretaries would be results and output oriented...their tenure being solely based on performance and performance evaluation." Speaking at the opening at Le Meridien Pegasus Hotel in Georgetown, acting CDB Vice President (Operations) Mr Neville Grainger indicated that some donors are linking aid to implementation performance. Luncheon told those on the three-week project implementation and management workshop that the CDB is encouraging and sponsoring public sector reform. The forum is intended to improve the capability of participants to plan, monitor and control project implementation through the use of simplified project management tools and techniques. Grainger said the bank, in its long-term plan, will be working closely in partnership with other agencies in the Caribbean with respect to project implementation, public sector reform and other areas. Luncheon declared that new technology and techniques must not only be inculcated into senior functionaries, but they should lead by example, and consequently, the role of the permanent secretary will be redefined. He added that the reforms in the public service are going to be complemented by changes in management skills and orientation. Luncheon felt that while Guyana and the Caribbean have adjusted to the challenges they face it is clear that these changes are inadequate. According to the Cabinet Secretary, the workshop offers the government another opportunity to highlight its own views and concerns and identify the reform initiatives in the public sector and public service. "In our operations in the delivery of goods and services in the public service, it is clear that we are behind time when we look at what is taking place elsewhere," he emphasised. "...We are aware that these difficulties exist and we have to understand and interpret them and implement change," he added. Luncheon noted that the array of bids advertised in the media by the government and state agencies for goods and services, indicates the abundance of what the government offers and is looking to contract out to autonomous bodies. The need to monitor and evaluate the performance in various sectors and those who are providing services such as the social sector, public works and the productive sector, was also highlighted by Luncheon. "It is now an entrenched policy...the move for private procurement for the delivery of goods and services will be intensified in time to come," he added. He noted that this policy will continue and the government must ensure that those skills and requisite knowledge are really acquired by the public servants. Luncheon stressed that the nexus between this reform and project management goes without saying, stating that many administrators in the public service must undergo training as managers. Grainger said the CDB has been conducting workshops and training programmes for the past 18 years and these are seen as important for capacity building. "We do not only need to build roads and schools, but ensuring that institutional and policy frameworks are there is also essential," he said. Grainger observed that the growth rate in the Caribbean has been low for the past 20 years and when there is actual growth this is usually not more than five per cent. He was also concerned that many countries are faced with unacceptable debt servicing ratios which has caused the social sector to bear the brunt of its effects. Unemployment and new forms of social disorder and crime are seen emerging in the region and if left unchecked, can escalate, Grainger pointed out. "We in the Caribbean are not only vulnerable because of our size, but because of floods, hurricanes and other things which take more natural resources that can be spent elsewhere," he said. Noting that over the years foreign direct investment has been declining, he urged the private sector to be more competitive and become more involved in human resources development and capacity building. A highly educated population is more productive and growth rates are usually higher, he said, adding that the pool of skills and the superiority in information technology in developed countries are a result of their investment in education. Grainger sees the need to reform teaching curricula to bring them more in line with science and technology, in addition to placing more emphasis on improving the teaching environment. The improvement of distance education was listed as one solution to the problem because it can reduce the need to invest in buildings and other infrastructure for some areas of learning. He maintained that the businesses of the new millennium will be those that can face the challenge of competition, reiterating that the responsibility for human resources was that of the public and private sectors. Grainger pointed to many Caribbean projects which are languishing because of a lack of capacity and because decisions in some countries are too centralised. The shortage of skills leads to delays and cost overruns, he told participants. Participants are drawn from the Guyana Sugar Corporation, the National Drainage and Irrigation Board, the ministries of Agriculture, Education, Public Works and Communication, Local Government and Health and Labour, the Customs and Excise Department, the Guyana Sea Defences Project Execution Unit, the Basic Needs Trust Fund, the Office of the President (Public Service Management), the Mayor and City Council and the Social Impact Amelioration Programme (SIMAP). CDB Chief Project Officer and Human Resources Development, Mr Herman Grant hoped that deliberations at the forum would be frank and open so that the bank can improve its policies and look at the needs of the country. He noted that Guyana was a large country in its own context but was confident that participants would be able to implement what they have learnt.
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