By Sue-Ann Wayow
PRIVATE sector experts should be considered for permanent secretary positions in the Public Sector says Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley.
On Monday, Dr Rowley made the suggestion while speaking at the opening of Nutrimix’s Next Generation Hatchery in Couva admitting that not everyone selected was the best person for the job.
Most Permanent Secretaries were not experts in the field but attained the position mostly based on seniority, the prime minister said.
He said, “There’s a huge suite of decision-making in this country that needs to be modernised, starting with how does one become a permanent secretary.”
Using himself as an example, as former housing minister he stated that poor decision-making at the top level have led to several projects either becoming stagnant or discarded.
Dr Rowley said, “I can tell you, getting houses built from the idea of where you going to build it to handing someone a key, you have no idea the amount of slow walking that could take place and the molasses rate that can apply to the decision-making that’s taking place. And that usually comes from a lack of vision in the Public Service because many of the decision-makers do not associate themselves with the outcome of their day’s work. The things are disconnected.”
A modernised system required
Dr Rowley said, “We require some significant changes in the public service of the 21st Century.”
He acknowledged that persons may want decisions to be made based on the Constitution which was also outdated for the 21st century.
“The constitution that was written for us in 1962 in many areas is wholly inappropriate for a Trinidad and Tobago in the 21st Century—2022,” Dr Rowley said.
He said, “If I tell you now that it is my view that permanent secretaries should not only come from those who come up and float up to the top in the Public Service but should also come from managers in the private sector who are hired into the public service to bring management skills to the Public Service, if I tell you that is my view, wait and hear what I’m being accused of.”
Bureaucracy problems
He also spoke of the new hatchery and the problems overcame by the investors one of the main ones being bureaucracy.
Dr Rowley said, “How does this investment satisfy Trinidad and Tobago and not be available to supply Grenada, St Vincent, Dominica, Barbados and other people who are in a similar situation within CARICOM, where we fight for the single market and economy. Is it that this investment is only for Trinidad and Tobago?
“Then you find out that if you try not to export any of this to the neighbouring islands, you come up against antiquated laws and a Public Service that is not prepared to be the can-do exponents to get us to export some of this to our neighbours.”
