FRED MITCHELL EXPLAINING THE PUBLIC SERVICE

(photo by Peter Ramsay of the Bahamas Information Services)

Reported in The Tribune

9 June 2023

By LETRE SWEETING

Tribune Staff Reporter

lsweeting@tribunemedia.net

FOREIGN Affairs Minister Fred Mitchell said members of the Public Service Commission should be employed full-time to address the backlog of public servants waiting to be confirmed.

He said many public servants complain of being unable to get bank loans because they are not confirmed despite working in the service for several years.

 “Every day, we would get on our phones a message that says ‘I’ve been working for the public service for 20 years, I’m still on weekly, I need to be put on permanent pension,’” Mr Mitchell said.

 “I’ve tried to explain, first of all, that the public service minister does not and neither does the minister of state promote people in the public service. The role of promotions, transfers, discipline, that is the responsibility of an instrument in the constitution called the Public Service Commission.

 “The Public Service Commission makes those decisions. The way those decisions get to us is through the Ministry of the Public Service and the starting point is the ministry itself.

 “When I left office, by fair means or foul, in 2017, I was the immigration minister. When I left, there was, I would say, 300 people who were hired as immigration officers. So their ranks when I left in 2017 — it was about 300, with classes of about 150 each or so — were trainee immigration officers.

 “When I came back in 2021, four and half years later, not one single one, I am advised, had been confirmed in their positions in the four and a half years.

 “These confirmations are just now cycling through the system. They may be almost coming to an end, and this is 18 months into our term, so the point I’m making is that this is not a very quick or dynamic process.”

Mr Mitchell said the public service building is in disarray, further delaying career advancements.

 “There are files everywhere,” he said. “It’s a fire hazard. There’s so many files, you can’t find anything, it’s stacked up to the roof. It needs to be put in a new building and thankfully that we’re working on as well.