The public service took centre stage during the budget debate on Wednesday, when Minister of the Public Service Sonia Parag and her predecessor, opposition Member of Parliament (MP) Tabitha Sarabo-Halley made their contributions.
Sarabo-Halley argued that the government should be spending on the improvement of the public service by upgrading management skills that will improve efficiency in the delivery of services. She also advocated acceleration of the digitisation of e-services, while observing that very little emphasis appeared to have been placed on it although it is important for development.
“I find it necessary at this point to mention this as I believe that our public servants are going through a harrowing period… Guyanese continue to witness the annihilation of the public service and all associated agencies and organisations since August 2020,” she further charged.
Sarabo-Halley said that when the APNU+AFC assumed office in 2015, there were cries that the public service was inefficient, archaic and that many individual ministries were unable to provide the level of service that was expected. She also said they were greeted with mountains of paper as computerisation was a foreign concept at that time and decision making was so centralised that almost every decision required a minister’s consent.
The MP noted that when the 2021 budget was announced, many public servants were left wondering what it had in store for them but there was only one mention of the public service and it was that the government wanted to improve the provision of service by the public service but Minister of Finance Dr. Ashni Singh did not say how this will be accomplished.
“Seventy-seven pages and not one paragraph on the importance of public servants in the development of the country. No recognition of the important role public service must play to ensure the implementation and execution of government plans,” she said, before noting the budget came a few weeks after it was announced that the Bertram Collins College of Public Service would be closed.
She added that the budget says nothing about a potential salary increase for public servants and while Parag had stated that the announcement of a salary increase would take away the right to collective bargaining, she has not heard of any engagement between government and the union. She stated while it could be that the union is remaining silent on any engagements with the ministry, if there were a consultation then they have not told their union members.
“Only time will tell whether they are all smoke screen or maybe they (the government) will be pressured into announcing a salary increase to our deserving public service. Like my fellow Member of Parliament Khemraj Ramjattan, I would demand that Public Servants receive 10% across the board in their salaries,” she further stated.
Scholarship
Addressing a government scholarship that was granted to her, Sarabo-Halley stated that she has no apologies for it and was instead very thankful for the opportunity she was given by the APNU+AFC administration. She noted that prior to being granted a scholarship she had completed her Bachelor of Science degree at the Arizona State University and added that if anyone wants to verify that information they can take a quick flight and with the help of Google maps will have no problem finding the university and verifying information about her.
However, Parag in response stated that while Sarabo-Halley thinks it was justifiable to grant herself a scholarship, the government had no record of her ever completing her studies under the scholarship, which cost more than £10,000. She also said it was very wrong to grant scholarships to the children of former ministers Nicolette Henry, Annette Ferguson and Simona Broomes instead of to persons who could not financially sustain themselves.
“That could’ve gone to those who are in need and financially unable to support themselves… When you take public office it is not to help yourself, it is to serve the Guyanese people so do not come here and come to justify that you help yourself instead of helping the nation,” Parag said, before adding that it is not justifiable that there is a 70,000-backlog in housing applications and within one month after applying for a house lot she receives one.
“That is self-serving and not service to your country,” she stressed.
Meanwhile, regarding the accusation that the APNU+AFC was not contacted for consultation on the 2021 budget, Parag said that it is the coalition’s fault as it instead chose to have a People’s Parliament at Stabroek Market and refused to have a meaningful consultation regarding the budget.
The minister noted that in the 2021 budget over $3 billion was allocated to the Public Service Ministry and in excess of $800 million will go towards training and more than a billion will go towards the 20,000 scholarships initiative that was promised in the PPP/C manifesto.
She noted that 4,500 online scholarships will be granted in 2021 but the government will also award the usual scholarships in various fields. She noted that they have already started increasing the number of scholarships being granted in each region.
“In this short space of time the PPP/C administration was able to deliver and not leave the hinterland behind in 2021; that variable will improve with the budget allocation and it was well spent on the people of Guyana,” she declared.
Parag said despite the fact that when the APNU+AFC administration entered office in 2015 and found everything “archaic,” when she entered office in August 2020 it was pretty much the same way. She added that the ministry has since moved to computerise all data and it has also since increased technical skills in the Linden, Berbice and Essequibo technical institutes. She said this will increase further during this year as they are aware that technical skills are very important.
