Director-General of the Ministry of the Presidency, Joseph Harmon yesterday charged the third batch of cadets of the Bertram Collins College of the Public Service (BCCPS) to lead the change in the Public service sector and to deliver all of the required public services that are needed by the citizens in an effective manner.
The Director-General delivered this charge to the cadets at a lecture organized by the College as it prepares to dispatch those who have successfully completed their 11 months of training into the Public service.
Noting that the Public Service College was established as a result of the recommendations from the Commission of Inquiry into the Public Service, Harmon said the role of the Public service has not changed over time nor is it in need of change. What needs to change, he said, is the attitude and modus operandi of the public servants.
“That role has been, as is, to deliver all the required Public services that are needed by our citizens and essential to the proper functioning of the state and of our society. What needs to be changed is the way in which those services are being delivered. The highly politicized way in which this was being done pre-2015, needed to be changed. Delivering services to selected communities for political returns is certainly not the role of the Public service,” Harmon noted.
He added that it is for this reason, that a new Public service was envisaged by the coalition administration. The ideal pubic service, he said, is one that is accessible, relevant, reliable, resourceful and responsive to the needs of the people. That sector should be equally effective in all regions of Guyana.
Harmon said that the new Public service has to be able to deliver in an administratively neutral manner and it has to be established firmly on the basis of merit and political impartiality. It must also possess expert knowledge and a high standard of academic education.
“In addition, it should consist of men and women of integrity who are reliable and willing to give advice without fear or favour, partiality or prejudice. The process of modernizing and transforming the Public service must make it more responsive, fair, efficient and effective and for this to be achieved, there has to be a concerted effort to enhance the management capacity, administrative efficiency and skills level of all Public servants from the lowest to the highest tier of the public sector workforce,” he said.
Fifty-six cadets are expected to graduate from the College on December 12, 2019.
