Public administration is decelerating

Aug 24, 2016 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

There are many persons within Diaspora and within Guyana who are asking why has more not been done by the government, considering the goodwill and lack of disruptive protests greeting the government’s ascension to office.
The answer is to be found in the quality of public administration which the government has been stymieing through its meddling and interference.
We have seen so far an attempt to frustrate a decision made by the Judicial Service Commission. We have been provided with the most frivolous excuse as to why this has happened.
We saw an attempt earlier this year to question a decision of the Board of Directors at NCN. This decision was rebuffed because there was a strong Chairman in place.
We have seen similar attempts being made to run roughshod over a decision of another Board of Directors. This saga is ongoing and is going to bring the government into disrepute.
The government is obsessed with control, absolute control, and this desire for control is being centrally directed, which makes it all the more ominous.
We have seen in another agency a non-executive person virtually exercising one-man control over the agency, including ordering the firing of persons without the support of his Board.
We have seen the contract of a long-serving senior public functionary not being renewed without any reason being given.
This sort of highhandedness and political interference in public administration could not have taken place anywhere else in the world. There is no doubt the above transgressions would not have been attempted in other parts of the world.
But it happens in Guyana, and this is why despite the large size of government, the system of public administration remains ineffective. There cannot be efficient public administration when there is public interference.
The government is treating certain commissions and Boards as if they are robots sent to carry out the sole will of the government. The professionals on those Boards are being disrespected.
There are power drunk persons being let loose on hapless professionals in the public administration system. Well, professionals are not going to tolerate that sort of mistreatment.
The government is meddling too much in public administration. It is interfering too much. It does not seem as if the politicians have enough work on their hands. They are seeking to push their noses into the day-to-day running of public agencies and corporations.
All the talk about a professional public service is just talk. It is not being backed up by action. The government is out to control in all aspects of public administration and its meddling will lead to mistakes, will compromise existing procedures, and will lead to mismanagement and, who knows, possibly even malfeasance.
We are going backwards rather than forward. Guyana has too many problems for this sort of obsession with political control.
We have gone this route before, and it destroyed the civil service inherited from the British. The lack of professionalism caused a brain drain, because the professionals ran from the PNC government; they ran from the PPP government and now they are facing the possibility of professionals sprinting from the APNU+AFC government.
It seems as if APNU+AFC is trying to outdo the PNC and the PPPC in demoralizing public administration. They are going at a rapid pace.
The effects are already evident. The government is becoming bloated and instead of having to transfer the fossils from the Walter Roth Museum, the government may end up itself becoming a museum piece.
There is no vim in public administration. Things are plodding along at a snail’s pace. The output of the various ministries is more paperwork than legwork. Things are not happening at the rate at which they should be happening.
One year has passed and the City Council still cannot get the authorization to increase rates and taxes. One year has passed and the health system is on the verge of collapse, with many places complaining about the absence of drugs. One year has passed and crime is still on the increase and getting worse.
One year has passed and workers are still to enjoy the significant increase in salaries and the reduction of the VAT. One year has passed and we have not seen any major infrastructure projects being launched. One year has passed and no major investment. One year has passed and NDCs are not financially much better off than they were one year before. One year has passed and agriculture is collapsing.
The reason for the slow activity is because the government is too obsessed with control and domination. It should leave the professionals to do their job and concentrate on making policy.
It promised inclusivity and making use of civil society personnel in running the country. This has only happened on a very limited scale.
Government should cease trying to put its acolytes into the system of public administration. It should advertise for jobs and let the best persons be selected. It should cease this practice of trying to decide who will work where.
If the veterans and political hacks are as qualified and competent as is claimed, then subject them to a competitive process and if they are best candidates then by all means put them to work.

1 thoughts on “Public administration is decelerating”

Maximus Sawh August 24, 2016 at 9:27 pm

Lovely piece. Straight up and clean. The country is really taking a dive. The main focus of this coalition is to create leisure-filled projects rather than economy-boosting ones. I’m truely sick at the fact that the bloggers in the diaspora can’t see this. Its as if the PNCites have awaken from their slumber with vengeance. Just one year and so much corruption being seen. Imagine 23 or 28 years of this coalition, we might truly suck salt. I’m happy that Emile Mervin has come to see reason. We now need other bloggers to sieze defending the utter nonsense being peddled as good governance. Guyana needs god’s intervention.