CHAIRMAN of the Commission of Inquiry (CoI) into the Public Service operations, Professor Harold Lutchman, has expressed concern over a development in which affected individuals seeking justice are lodging with the Commission personal complaints which its outlined functions prohibit addressing.

He has, however, disclosed that the Commission will consider mechanisms to deal with those matters.

Making this disclosure on Friday, Professor Lutchman said several complaints have been made, and the Commission will not reject consideration on dealing with those issues raised by aggrieved persons.

Secretary of the CoI, Mrs. Geeta Chandan-Edmond, told this publication in an interview on Friday that the Commission’s secretariat has received 20 complaints from Guyanese at home and abroad popularly alleging discrimination, denial of benefits, allowances and promotions, among other concerns.

If there is a continuing pattern of allegations, then there would be considerations by the commission to address them, she said.

“People are not fairly treated, and they are grieved,” Professor Lutchman said in closing remarks at the Commission of Inquiry on Friday; and in a later interview with Chronicle, he further stated: “We can’t altogether reject any consideration of that…if there are mechanisms to deal with that matter, we will address them”.

The Commission of Inquiry (CoI) into the Public Service was formally launched on September 15, and some 30 statements have already been sent in by Guyanese living here and abroad. The inquiry panel identified by the government to spearhead the operation which will investigate the working conditions, wages, and other issues affecting public servants’ are: Professor Harold Lutchman, who serves as Chairman of the Commission; and Samuel Goolsarran and Sandra Jones, both of whom are serving commissioners.

The role of the CoI, according to the Chairman, is guided by Terms of Reference (ToR) which stipulate that the CoI is to enquire into; report on; and make recommendations on the role, functions, recruitment process, remuneration, and conditions of service of public servants.

The third hearing of the inquiry, being held at the Ministry of the Presidency’s Public Service Department on Waterloo Street, Georgetown, saw two employees of the Ministry of the Presidency, in the Department of Public Service, being led through sworn evidence by the Chairman and Commissioners.

It was disclosed during the probe that there have been inconsistencies in training and evaluation of public servants, and those were identified as vital elements within the workings of government ministries and agencies.

Ms. Jean Carol, Manager of Training at the Training Division, testified that she was amazed when, some years ago, she was employed as Lecturer at Critchlow Labour College immediately after completing her Bachelor’s degree in Public Management at the University of Guyana. She said she had no formal training in teaching, and believes it is important for people to receive training for jobs.

“In dealing with teenagers, care must be given to your ability to capture and keep their attention, and how you put over information; which information would be relevant; how to put over the information; and what they are comfortable with. You have to keep abreast with what was going on in their world.”

She said her university education emphasised how to deal with people, but with the training she received while on the job at GTI, she was able to impart the knowledge she had gained, and design programmes which “ensure that the information you want to get over is what you put over”.

In outlining her duties in her current job, Carol said she has to develop training programmes, enquire about the needs of companies, oversee the successful running of the Public Service Department’s library, and facilitate training.

Responding to questions fielded by the chairman, Carol explained that her department no longer does an analysis to understand the needs of ministries and agencies, and that a post-training assessment is also absent.

“After training staff in various areas, it is important to know the impact it has created in the work environment”, she said. “But you don’t really know the impact unless you go into the ministries; but we don’t do that anymore. It was just cut out”.

She has recommended that staff of her ministry go into the ministries to see the progress of trained staff, in order to better understand the benefits of training. Persons are “not just sent on training, but you’re sent on training for a purpose,” she said, and suggested that it is important to know that purpose is being fulfilled.

She further recommended to the commission that staff training be given at all levels, since “knowledge is not static”.

Commissioner Goolsarran has recommended that Ms Carol should develop an instrument (inclusive of a circular) based on the courses which would have been done and the evaluation made through the relevant persons within the ministries, and capture feedback from them without physically approaching them.

Carol disclosed that the absence of a Chief Training Officer has made her the more senior of two employees in her department. The ministry, formerly Public Service Ministry, is responsible for training staff across all ministries and at all levels; and modules delivered annually include supervisory management, government accounting procedures, secretarial skills, communication in the office, and customer care. She said other resource persons within the various ministries and agencies are employed to assist in training.

Commissioner Sandra Jones said there should be a clear outline of the difference between human resources and personnel departments’ terms, which she has observed is being used interchangeably in the department. She said the Commission would have those terms explained and a decision made.

It was also recommended that the department should base its plan for 2016 on programmes which meet the needs of ministries, including stores management. There are technological changes, she said, and training should be continuous.

Carol was asked to work along with colleagues and submit a memorandum outlining the recommendations.

Ms. Carol Sam Moe, who was the first to testify, is a “Senior Personnel Officer within the Department of Public Services at the Ministry of the Presidency”. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Public Management obtained from the University of Guyana, and has been trained in supervisory management. She has been in that position for seven years. Her functions include assisting in dealing with allowances, retirement, and employment; and she is supervised by the Principal Personnel Officer.

She interacts daily with other public servants via telephone, mostly receiving requests coming from other ministries; and if there are mistakes, she would resolve matters professionally at the supervisory level. She also supervises the younger staff, and has not received supervisory training at the office.
However, theoretical preparations at the University of Guyana have been beneficial in the execution of her duties.
She has received on-the-job training in stress management and other work-related areas, and agrees with the Chairman that earning a university degree, important as it is, should not be the end, but should couple with on-the-job training.

She said that while education gives a person a body of theory, training prepares one for a specific job.
Her concerns are that formal performance appraisal certificates in the workplace should be upgraded, and a monetary reward should be given for those excelling in performing specific jobs.

She said supervisors should walk around to see the progress of work in offices; and disclosed, through questioning by Commissioner Jones, that the range of allowances from travelling, entertainment, duty, station for the various levels right across the public service have not been revised since she started working there seven years ago.

By Shauna Jemmott