Dear Editor,
As the recent past Minister of Home Affairs, I am flummoxed over the news that staff at certain departments that fall under the Ministry of Public Security had their salary for the month of October 2018 delayed.
The explanation offered by the Ministry of Finance can be interpreted in two ways; either as evasive and deceptive on the part of the Ministry of Finance or by placing the blame at the doorsteps of the Ministry of Public Security which is precisely what was done.
One way or another, it is obvious that there was insufficient funds under the specific line item earmarked for payment of salaries and allowances to a large number of employees under the Ministry of Public Security.
What we do not know is whether other government agencies and departments experienced similar problems. If they did, they remained silent.
This begs the question; why, unlike other ministries, did the Ministry of Public Security have to put in writing a circular reflecting the gravity of the situation knowing that it would be leaked and made public?
How to get around the problem is probably what led to the hastily convened engagements between the Ministries of Finance and Public Security to sort out their differences over the seeming administrative bungling that brought about a much dreaded situation.
During my tenure at the then Ministry of Home Affairs I never experienced such a terrible fiasco.
Had this been the case while I was there, all hell would have broken loose. The then APNU+AFC political opposition would have gone to town with the usual vitriol.
With the late Angela Johnson, a highly efficient Permanent Secretary and competent supporting technical staff at the helm of the Ministry such a deplorable situation would have been beyond one’s wildest imagination. It just did not happen! But in three short years it did. Wonders never cease.
Since the change of government, it is to be assumed that for political reasons there have been many staffing changes at the administrative and technical levels. It would seem that those changes have resulted in a huge dip in the efficiency and management at government agencies and departments. Preparation of budgets in general and payrolls in particular was never a problem during the PPP/C’ s tenure in office.
To now learn that:
‘Several errors were discovered due to incorrect postings’ and that; ‘the Ministry was unable to provide the necessary explanations despite being provided with tables and demonstrations,’ one is left to wonder on whose head does the cap fit?
At the same time, I find it impossible to believe that the experienced staff I left at that Ministry, who are unquestionably familiar with budget and payroll preparations would muck up to such an extent that it would require the Ministry of Finance’s technical staff to intervene with ‘tables and demonstrations’ as teaching aids as if the experienced staffers in the accounting section of the Ministry had suffered a bout of amnesia and had to be administered with shock treatment in order for them to recuperate and to put their house in order.
Both Ministers Jordan and Ramjattan must be called out to explain what it is that is rotting in their respective fiefdoms.
This is a serious matter that smacks of gross incompetence and inefficiency by those at the top where the proverbial ‘buck stops.’
It is their responsibility to ensure that public servants, be they on the fixed establishment or contracted are paid on time.
Only with a change of government through free and fair elections in 2020 will the Guyanese people be relieved of the uncaring APNU+AFC regime and have the opportunity to put in place truly fit and proper persons to effectively and efficiently administer the affairs of their country for the benefit of all Guyanese.
Yours faithfully,
Clement J. Rohee
