On Public Service Matters

11th January 2008

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

On the last day that the House of Assembly met last year on Monday 17th December, I raised the issue of a number of public servants who appealed to the last government under Perry Christie to settle a number of issues and we agreed to settle the issues with them.  Cabinet conclusions were left to execute the decisions made to settle those issues.

The now Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham was confronted on 17th December with the question of why or whether he intended to honour the commitments made by the previous administration.  Mr. Ingraham was contemptuous in his answer and said that he would not be told what to do by the Member of Parliament for Fox Hill.

With respect, this is not about doing what the Member of Parliament for Fox Hill wants, but it is about doing what is right in the circumstances.

The following groups are affected by Mr. Ingraham’s decision not to honour the decisions made by the previous administration:

There are nine retired prison officers who retired from the public service and were rehired, but during the time of their rehiring their pensions were suspended.  On advice, the former Government agreed to restore their lost pensions.  The Ingraham administration has decided that they will not pay this money, even though Mr. Ingraham himself was able to collect both his salary and pension during his time of retirement as Prime Minister.

The case of the Operators at the Air Traffic Control Division of the Civil Aviation Department:
Parliament recently approved the sum of $510,000 to pay the scarcity or certification allowance to these people.  The previous Cabinet had agreed to provide this certification allowance for operators who now perform both management and line responsibilities.  There are some nine of those officers.  The government has not indicated when or if they will honour the commitment to pay.

The case of Road Traffic officers whose contracts were terminated, which led to a lawsuit by the officers.  The government of Perry Christie agreed to settle the challenges in the courts on the basis of paying the salaries lost and in the case of those who wanted to return to work, they would be taken back into the service at the Post Office at their previous salaries.  Mr. Ingraham is not honouring the government’s commitment to settle this matter.

I also raise the following cases of former public servants hard done by the Ingraham administration whose matters need to be settled.

The case of retired police officer Raymond Mackey who applied for his service to be bridged and which was agreed by the previous administration but the present administration has refused to carry out that commitment.

The case of Abraham Butler who was dismissed by the Water and Sewerage Corporation after being directed to return to the Corporation following his secondment to the Ministry of Public Service.  This matter has led to a lawsuit and the government has not responded to it.

I urge the government to settle these matters expeditiously.  The commitments made by previous governments are to be honoured.  Government is a continuous exercise and contracts agreed are not subject to partisan concerns as to whether or not they are executed.

These people have valid agreements with the government that are enforceable in law and the government, which says that it supports the rule of law, should and must honour these commitments.  If they do not, they are undermining the basic relationship of confidence and trust between a government and the people.

The Free National Movement and the government of Hubert Ingraham have brought petty and vindictive politics to the process of governance in The Bahamas in a way that the government of Perry Christie never did.  They are squandering the trust that Bahamians deserve to have in their government.  Unless they relent; unless they change their ways; and soon, they will reduce the process of fair and balanced governance to a cruel joke.