As the recession KEEPS?THROWING at us its challenges, the role and function of our Civil Service become more crucially important to the growth and improvement of our economy.
It will be to our peril if we fail to recognize that the public service is as vital to our common welfare as is the private sector – even more so if members themselves of the public service are not cognizant of it.
Too often the pace at which the public sector works causes such significant delay that private sector investors might be put off by the waiting, or the tardiness might render a project less viable than if it had been approved with greater dispatch.
The public interest is therefore adversely affected, and a competitor island might reap the benefits of an investment lost to us.
Unfortunately, the problem of delay spreads beyond investment, reaching the point where even ministers are themselves publicly speaking out. Make no mistake, such delays can frustrate ministers who are always anxious to get on with the job of executing projects on behalf of the Government.
Recently, Minister of Health Donville Inniss spoke to the problem. What he said is worth repeating, for it hits the nail directly on the head.
“For decades now there have been complaints about the length of time it takes to process applications for various matters before Government departments,” he noted.
Mr Inniss reminded public servants that the delays resulted in lost opportunities to the society and the economy, and that it was very sad when he “sees individuals who are guaranteed a pay cheque on the 25th of every month lingering with files on their desks or in their drawers”.
This is an astonishing indictment of the performance of the Civil Service, and the public must wonder about the effectiveness of Public Sector Reform.
Frankly, this state of affairs suggests the reform has not worked, and that national interests are being compromised by a less than efficient public service. But the endemic nature of the problem is underscored by the fact that Mr Inniss could refer to such tardiness in Government departments that has led to frustrated private entrepreneurs.
Mr Wayne Kirton of Invest Barbados has also added his voice to the debate. In a recent television interview he spoke of a potential investment of about $200 million lost to the island because of “bureaucratic delays”.
It must be frustrating for Mr Kirton and his colleagues to successfully traverse the international marketplace, getting investment interests here, only to have their efforts quashed by delays.
The problem is more acute when it affects the international business sector, for it means our competitors are moving ahead of us, simply because they are doing the right things in the right time. They moved quickly into Tax Information Examination Agreements while we waited until the eleventh hour to do what we could have much earlier.
We urge the authorities to bestir themselves and place more time, energy and money behind Public Sector Reform, for unless the public service is remodelled, Barbados will not be able to meet and satisfy the quickened pace of world commerce.
It cannot therefore be business as usual, given the complaints of Minister Inniss and Mr Kirton.
And if this country is open to international investment, then every public servant must regard it a duty to give it his or her most efficient shot.
It is the very least the country deserves.
