THE BRITISH left us with a few things, which have made some significant differences to our lives that are in need of reform: the legal system, the parliamentary system and the civil service.
It is time to make Independence more than symbolic, especially from an institutional perspective. The institutions are most critical to bringing happiness to Barbadians and must reflect our maturity after 50 years of self-government.
Last week, it was noted that “the pursuit of economic growth must therefore become the constraint on the objective of making our people happy and contented”. If drinking champagne rather than mauby makes us happy, then we must understand that (1) such an aspiration is okay, and (2) the aspiration is achievable if we are prepared to put the effort into a shared objective.
However, such an aspiration requires leadership. It also requires belief in partnership. Given the propensity of Barbadians to accept and not question so-called facts, it needs to be acknowledged that the country’s progress has not only slowed, but there is evidence of regression in some critical areas.
Given the limited space, I want to address some of the issues surrounding the civil service from the perspective of leadership. The issues are limited to purpose, progress and planning.
The civil service is a group of people employed for the Government departments. Their purpose is to execute the policies and programmes of the Government. It is therefore presumed that they know the contents, more so the objectives.
This presumption is also true of the public, who seem far less connected with respect to the Government’s decision-making on major problems. In this regard, the civil service is simply a significant part of the public that ought not to be taken for granted.
Prior to Independence, when the British were in charge, it was observed that “[government] should adopt a much more positive policy of bringing [its] point of view before the mass of the people, and of explaining in sufficiently simple terms the reasons which lie behind [its] decisions of major problems”. At the time, there was concern about the “extension of colour prejudice”. What is the nature of the prejudice now?
Experience lost
There is little doubt that the personnel in the civil service has progressed over the years, but the systems, or ways of doing things, are in need of reform. The time has come for the use of more information technology in administrative, and by extension, decision-making matters. The increased size and more complex structure of the civil service are enough to warrant reform. But along with reform must come fairer reward.
It is not widely known that there is currently a pattern of early retirement in the civil service as people become increasingly frustrated with the systems and leadership.
This explains why “retiring benefits” has become one of the fastest growing categories of Government expenditure. Unfortunately, thousands of years of experience are being lost in the civil service much too early with the obvious implications for the various departments.
But imagine being identified as the major source of the economic problem confronting the country; and then further imagine that human beings are best motivated by expressions of confidence in their worth, and it is easy to conclude that the current environment in the civil service is not inspiring the “servants”. Servants who have not received an increase in salary for several years, but who are being asked to be much more productive and are having deserving benefits, once enjoyed, denied.
What distinguishes Caribbean societies from most others are not just small size, limited resources and vulnerability, but the importance of intrusive governments in the affairs of day-to-day living. It is highly unlikely that governments will become less intrusive, but planning can make tasks more efficient and effective in the future. The planning must start with the government, whose vision for the country is clearly articulated without prejudice.
Barbados needs to increase consumption to fuel economic growth in the short run, but it needs investment to drive economic development in the medium- to long-term. The investment must be in human, not just physical, capital. The happiness of the people must start with their ability to aspire and history has shown that this is best done in this country, when they have access to education and health services.
Dr Clyde Mascoll is an economist and Opposition Barbados Labour Party adviser on the economy. Email: clyde_mascoll@hotmail.com.
