Yesterday marked the first of 23 days of the controversial verification and reinstatement process the government implemented and according to Minister of National Security Marvin Dames it’s a process that is conducive to creating a productive public service.

As stipulated in a notice last week, all government monthly and weekly employed public officers, senators and members of parliament, including those located overseas, and judges must be verified within the next three weeks.

The idea is to ensure the government has accurate records and that there is proper allocation.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Peter Turnquest told The Bahama Journal recently that verification is to ensure that no “phantom employees” are present within the public sector.

However, some have criticized the idea.

“If you just have people sitting around, and this is my personal view, with nothing to do it’s a strain on the public purse,” Mr. Dames said.

“However you look at it, we just need to justify every positon. We’re at a place where the Bahamian people expect accountability.”

Mr. Dames insists it can’t be business as was the case in the hiring of hundreds of people in the run-up to the May 10 general election.

“We’re not going to sit back and say that those jobs given out were justified. We have to review it and that’s why you elect a government, sometimes to make hard decisions in the best interest of the people, not the party,” he said.

“There are a lot of people out there throughout this country who are not employed and are hurting because of bad decision-making.”

It has been made clear that those who fail to present themselves to be verified will have their salaries interrupted from September 2017.

This will remain the case until they comply with the process.

The verification ends August 31, 2017.