Caribbean Public Services Association 34th Annual Conference
Wyndham Hotel, Cable Beach - Wednesday 28th July, 2004

I wish to again add my words of welcome to those delegates who have come from around the Caribbean to our country.  As Foreign Minister, I have had the opportunity to visit almost every country in the region over the past two years.  It is a great source of interest to me how much we all have in common in the region.

The subject of productivity in the public service is of paramount importance to this Government.  I am sure that it is of paramount importance to your governments at home as well.  The complaints are perennial about the public service, from both the public and from public servants themselves.  When people talk about the public service they speak about it as if it is a separate kind of creature of the workforce, most unlike any other.

In the culture of our country, many people come to politicians and say that they want help getting a government job.  In one respect that is a tribute to the public service but in another sense it is a problem.  Too often, the public service which has as its main attractions, a sure and steady salary with security of tenure and an unfunded pension right is seen as a refuge for the lazy and under motivated.

Many people want a government job because they have heard that there is little accountability, discipline is difficult to exercise, dismissal is next to impossible, and the money while not in the upper brackets, given the lack of accountability for time, the money is quite good. In fact, many people continue to operate businesses on the side even as they work for the service.

Enter into the mix, the reforming politician.  He, like those in this dispensation, want to bring about change because the complaints from the public and the public servants themselves are too numerous.  Government ministers soon realize the limits of their authority, tied up in arcane rules, advice that does not disclose fully the limits or extent of his powers, and in some cases the pure hostility inbuilt in a system that is rules based for the protection of the workers and the public but where the rules now have everything tied up in knots.

The public service threatens to drown a minister, government policy, and the civil servant in a sea of paper.  We all recognize these facts.  We like to talk about it.  Indeed, the theme during much of this week has been on the question of reform.  No one can be against reform.  Yet I dare to say that no one wants to reform.  Reform is something, we want to row about, and give examples of how the system does not work.  Reform is not something that we want to carry out.  And some true reformers have been defeated in the fight. In fact a young constituent of mine told me the other day that he thought that I had already surrendered.  I assured him that I had not.

Many of the countries from which you come have already engaged in reform efforts.  You will know what they are.  Canadian experts came into Jamaica and engaged in the work for reform of the Customs Service in Jamaica for example.  I believe that same firm did some work in Guyana.  The Government here has been in extensive talks with the Canadian government and private sector interests in pursuance of the same objectives.  We have spoken to local vendors.  We have been in long discussions with the Inter American Development Bank.  A lot of time and effort has been expended ever the last two years on the talk about reform but reform has not yet come.

Perhaps, it is because we have this idea that reform is like an apple on the food store shelves that we can go into the store and purchase reform, consume it and then reform is done.  Reform is not like that.  Reform is a constant process.

In our own country, we want to begin a discussion with the public sector unions and staff associations about the reform agenda.  I have to state the obvious: reform is absolutely necessary.  The decision-making processes in this country and the execution of policy do not serve this country well.

There is not a single decision that the Government can announce that it knows with certainty that will be carried out in a timely fashion and in accordance with the wishes of the government.  That is quite a controversial fact.  But the government is awash with complaints about decisions that it knows have been made, knows that orders have been issued but which simply are not carried out.  It is awash with complaints from public servants themselves about discrimination in promotions, lost files and delays with inexplicable excuses for inattention and inaction.

Some say this is because of political influences opposed to the government.  Others say it is in the nature of civil servants to stall and delay.  Some argue that this is the result of the work of poor training, under motivation, bad management, poor systems; too much paper.  Whatever it is, the results are not satisfactory, and the public is demanding change.  A modern country cannot survive like this.  Perhaps you can share your experiences.

What is also clear is that the system of promotions, the over reliance on seniority, the lack of management flexibility are also issues that adversely affect productivity issues in the public service.

So where does one begin?  Most of the vendors that we have consulted want to have studies done of where to begin.  The costs are close to one million dollars just to do the study.  This is certainly the IDB approach that a study must be done.  That would be good but the question we ask is: do we have the time?  Certainly with two years on our term having expired, does one want to be involved a wrangle over changes in work rules in the years leading to a general election?

The other thing that all the potential vendors have told us is that the Ministers of the government and the Permanent Secretaries, the Heads of Department all have to buy into reform.  Without that commitment, the reform efforts cannot succeed.

The typical way reform is driven is from the top.  But this government believes that reform cannot be possible without the co-operation of the public sector unions and staff associations, and that the time to look at reform issues is when contract negotiations begin.  It should also be driven from the bottom.  We are at such a junction in The Bahamas.  It is time then for us to start.

The challenge then to you is to accept the challenge of reform and embrace it right now.  The time will be when the opportunity arises as the talks for new contracts begin.

The questions will not then be theoretical: Can management get more flexibility to manage?

Will it be better for the system to change away from the permanent and pensionable to all contract work?

Will we agree to get away from across the board increases and switch to an entirely merit based system?

What will be the position on pensions going into the future?

Will making all Ministries into corporations be an idea embraced as making for greater efficiencies?

Can we switch to an all-digital based system of record keeping?

How will we be able to motivate workers to carry out decisions on a timely basis?

How do we eliminate discrimination in promotions?

What are the ideas that we can borrow from throughout the region?

I suspect that these are all contentious ideas, and I look forward to discussing them with you in this forum.