The former Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) government employed and abused existing policies in the Public Service Sector to the tune of some $10 million in the months leading up to the 2017 general elections, according to Minister State for Public Service and National Insurance Brensil Rolle.
Mr. Rolle made the revelations during his contribution to the 2017/2018 budget debate yesterday in the House of Assembly.
He said between December 2016 and this past April, millions of dollars were spent to hire additional persons, one person of which who was allegedly hired to keep eyes on a police station.
“They found such creative ways to employ and abused the existing polices to such degree that the Public Service exploded over the las five years by well over 6,500 new employees,” he said.
“This, Mr. Speaker, was done in a dying and downgraded economy. While this government is truly a government of the people, and it is the people’s time, it is aware that it cannot employ everyone at the expense of the public purse.”
Having dedicated 30 years to the public service before assuming his role as a state minister, Mr. Rolle said it was inconceivable that someone could have been hired on contract as a clerk.
“The ministers appear to have been running a parallel system with the Ministry of Public Service. For any minister to hire whomever they want at whatever length they wish, many of whom did not even come to the public service,” he said.
“They did not come to the public service or the Ministry of Finance. Well how did you pay these people? In many cases they were not paid. They are still not paid and we are now getting calls to pay them. I’m saying look. I look in the public service register and you are not there.”
He further reiterated that while it is the people’s time and the government is committed to ensuring this happens, the government just cannot bear some burden’s at the public’s expense.
“The inattention to detail to the development of our human resources, the acceptance of mediocracy in the performance of duties and the use of outdated policies and inadequate processes and procedure has led to an inefficient delivery of public service. This must be stopped,” he said.
