News
PNP Administration labelled as unable to properly manage Civil Servants as projects go uncompleted
By Dana Malcolm
Staff Writer
#TurksandCaicos, November 15, 2022 – Edwin Astwood, Leader of the Opposition, People’s Democratic Movement (PDM) says it’s the Ministers job to get government workers in line and the government has ways to make that happen, he was speaking with Drexwell Seymour on Financially Speaking and made the comments in response to complaints by the Premier and Deputy Premier outlining difficulties they had faced within government with getting projects completed.
“If you’re saying a lot of people aren’t doing what they’re supposed to be doing, well Hon Premier that’s the
The Leader of the Opposition doubled down on his statement despite the fact that civil servants answer to the Deputy Governor; insisting that the buck stopped with elected officials.
“The elected official can give instructions to your Permanent Secretary and your PS can give instructions to anyone in that ministry.”
Washington Misick, TCI Premier had expressed disappointment with e-government in a previous interview maintaining that some people in government were not doing what they were supposed to and Deputy Premier E Jay Saunders had expressed that he too had experiences where civil servants had outright refused to cooperate with him.
To that, Astwood, who is a former minister of health for the islands, said if civil servants who failed to perform according to their contracts should be written up for removal from the post.
“You have the power to recommend that, you cannot fire them but you have to make the case and I’ve seen it happen, when they really want someone gone they would do all these performance indicators and say I can’t work with this person and put it towards the Governor or Deputy Governor to remove them.”
He maintained that the apparent breakdown in the chain of command was more of a ‘managerial issue.’