State Minister Joe Harmon on Thursday said public servants must stop being sent to the Hinterland region as a means of punishment for misbehavior, as he lamented the disparity that currently exists between services offered on the Coast and the services being offered in far-flung regions.

The Minister said the policy of punishing persons in that manner has to be addressed as he lobbied for the one standard of service throughout Guyana.

“Sometimes a public servant does something wrong in Georgetown, they post him in the interior, so what you have is that there are persons who are being disciplined and at the same time have to perform their duties in those areas,” Harmon explained.

The Minister also restated the administration’s commitment to tackling both the perception and reality of corruption in the public service.

He announced January 2016 as the proposed opening date for the promised Public Service Staff College.

Harmon said it is hoped that the college will train an average of 500 new entrants to the public sector over the next five years and will consequently remedy the current perception of corruption.

He made the statements while addressing scores of public service practitioners at the recommencement of a conference which was not held for the last 10 years.

He said the preliminary work has started on setting up the college but explained that a final decision is yet to be made on the building that will be used.

“We will not spare any effort in ensuring that the quality of the accommodation that we utilize for the training of our public servants is of a high quality,” he added.

Just after the May 11 elections, President Granger met with public sector personnel where he laid out his vision for a public service that is accessible, reliable, relevant, resourceful, responsive and equally effective in all regions.

These sentiments were reiterated by Harmon who also noted the government’s zero tolerance for a public service that is politically aligned. He also urged public servants to ensure they offer sound advice to the Ministers and elected officials. He promised on the part of government to provide the tools necessary in keeping with the promise to build a modern public service.

Related posts:

Harmon challenges Jagdeo to announce the level of salary increases for public servants 2020 Budget Neglects Public Servants -MP Sarabo-Halley Public Servants Staff College to become operational in September Govt. warns public servants about accumulated leave: “Use it or Lose it”