No appetite for time wasting
WE BEGAN THIS WEEK with two discussions on local radio which spoke to the understanding of roles of public servants and officials in the exercise of their jobs.
The first was addressed at length by president of the Public Service Union (PSU) Elroy Boucher; the second issue was ventilated by current leader of the Opposition Dr Ralph Gonsalves.
The PSU president, being interviewed on radio, made several claims against senior officials of the Ministry of Health et al. He charged that, regarding the resumption to duty of workers who had lost their jobs under the previous government’s Vaccine Mandate, some employees found that the process of completion of documentation was being frustrated by department heads. He cited as example, one case where simply affixing a signature took up to two hours. Clearly this must have been a serious misunderstanding by that senior public servant, since the new Government’s policy of re-employment of the furloughed workers had been amply ventilated and must have been communicated in writing within the Public Service.
One would hope that this is but a storm in a teacup based on some misunderstanding of the procedures toward reinstating employees, or even an over-reaction by the person on the other end. But in the critical area of health, if found to be the case, it is serious, unfortunate, unacceptable and unnecessary.
The second issue brought to the fore this week was ventilated by Dr. Gonsalves, who on another radio show said he was currently in communication with the Speaker of the House of Assembly Ronnie Durham-Balcombe. The issue was over the admissibility of questions submitted by the veteran member of Parliament for placement on the Order Paper to be addressed at the next sitting of the House.
The surprising charge was that the Speaker was objecting to the structure of questions being posed for oral answer to two members on the Government side.
This early into the term of the new administration, to have disagreement over questions which on the face of it seemed quite straightforward, suggests that the public can be in for some fractious times, to say the least.
The Opposition Leader said among the questions being queried by the Speaker is one seeking clarification about what authority was vested in the son of Prime Minister Dr. Godwin Friday’s function in the Office of the Prime Minister.
Interestingly, it is an issue which Prime Minister Friday had commented on in interaction with members of the media. Indeed, the Parliament is the proper place for such a clarification to be sought and appropriate response provided because of the implications for the sacred Oath of Secrecy.
The other question the Opposition Leader charged was being questioned by Speaker Durham-Balcombe seemed pretty innocuous, and was being proposed to be asked of the Minister of Health: about the presence of swarms of flies in the environment.
This nation, and indeed the government, faces a very difficult political and economic environment. One would therefore think that a more congenial spirit would be brought to bear on the exercise of functions relative to governance moving forward.
The two instances addressed here, by persons in the Public Service and by the new Speaker of our Parliament, would seem to be exercises in time wasting for which, in a new environment, we all should have little appetite. We have a country to build in this challenging international environment; there are more serious issues to which persons in positions of responsibility should commit their time.
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