( L - R) Williams, Wynter, Morrison

Influential participants in the struggling social partnership initiative have warned that the disharmony in functions of the political directorate and the civil service is too sharp to bring about effective public-sector reform.

The business and trade union leaders were addressing a Gleaner Editors' Forum last Friday.

The caution came despite an assurance by state minister in the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service, Arthur Williams, that the process would not focus on cost cutting but would, instead, be qualitatively oriented.

Business leaders and trade unionists agreed that the Golding administration was headed for trouble if it failed to carve out a clear frame of reference within which an orderly restructuring programme could be pursued.

Usurping functions

Asserting that the sore issue of devolution of responsibility must be addressed with urgency, president of the Jamaica Civil Service Association, Wayne Jones, accused the Government of usurping the functions of senior civil servants.

"Workers want to do better but are not allowed to do so," declared Jones, who warned against "tinkering with people's lives".

Head of Manpower and Maintenance Services Limited, Audrey Hinchcliffe, appeared to be on the same page as Jones.

She complained that the technical and administrative functions of civil servants have been hijacked by politicians.

"Therein lies the problem," she said.

Hinchcliffe, who had a long association with the country's management umbrella organisation, Jamaica Employers' Federation, said although Jamaica has dabbled with more than 30 restructuring initiatives since 1990, nothing sustainable has emerged.

Devoid of yardsticks

Management consultant Robert Wynter is also sceptical of the planned public-sector facelift. Wynter argued that the process was devoid of yardsticks to measure performance.

Declaring that the strategies being pursued must be target specific, Wynter complained that the 2030 plan contained goals that were not complementary.

President of the Jamaica Chambers of Commerce, Milton Samuda, agreed that performance must be measurable. He said it had become commonplace for "the tail to wag the dog".

"Government looms large in the life of the little man and, in so doing, crowd out the private sector ... . We have allowed the politicians to take on to themselves power that they don't really have," argued Samuda.

Citing the strides Singapore has made in its socio-economic development, Vincent Morrison, president of the National Workers' Union (NWU), suggested that the process lacked study and research.

"We are not going to knock the process. We will work with the powers that be ... but I submit that empirical study needs to be done before embarking on any restructuring."

Qualitative mark

It was Trevor Munroe, a trade unionist and former senator, who came to the defence of politicians. Citing the several entities which have made a qualitative mark, including the electoral machinery, Munroe called for balance in the debate.

However, Hinchcliffe suggested that an examination of the organisational structure of the civil service be undertaken to determine efficacy levels.

"Inputs have to be made to facilitate productivity ... . I am not convinced that these inputs are there," said Hinchcliffe, without getting into specifics.

State minister in the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service, Arthur Williams, said the unit established by the prime minister to lead the reform process would be going into each ministry to meet with staff.

The Government has come under increasing pressure to ease the yoke of the public-sector wage bill on the national Budget. With cash cows like the bauxite sector shell-shocked by the effects of the global recession, the Treasury has found it difficult to pay its bills.

It is expected that up to 15,000 public-sector jobs could be slashed in the long run. This move is hinged on the wage bill ballooning from $84 billion to $125 billion this fiscal year; the International Monetary Fund's insistence on public-sector salaries dropping from 10 per cent to 7.5 per cent of GDP; and claims that state agencies are too bulky and too inefficient.

gary.spaulding@gleanerjm.com