By Ariana Gordon

THE three-member Commission of Inquiry assigned to assess the state of the country’s Public Service has recommended in their report that contract workers be “absorbed into the pensionable Public Service establishment, provided that they are suitably qualified to fill established positions.”The Commissioners have presented their report to the President, the Opposition Leader and the Speaker of the National Assembly.
According to the Commissioners, the roles of contract workers in the Public Service appear to be in conflict with the roles of traditional public servants. Those contract workers, the majority of whom occupy very senior positions, “were not recruited through the established processes and procedures of the Public Service Commission.”
PARALLEL PUBLIC SERVICE
As such, the large numbers of contract workers found within the Public Service indicate more often than not that there is a “parallel Public Service in conflict with the official Public Service.”
The Commissioners, Professor Harold Lutchman (Chairman), Sandra Jones and Samuel Goolsarran said reference made to contract employees is to the recruitment and appointment of persons to established posts within the Public Service to serve for fixed and limited periods of time at the end of which their contracts are either renewed or ended.
The employment arrangements for contract employees, therefore, differ significantly from that of those employed permanently within the traditional Public Service.
“Contract employees may also be located at lower levels… In this light, they are usually placed into two broad categories: those that exist and are authorised and those that are creatures of convenience, specifically functioning behind facades intended to conceal the questionable nature of both their status and appointment,” the report stated.
CONFLICT
Therefore, the conflict which exists between the traditional Public Service and the contract employees is relative to the processes and procedures by which each type is recruited and accedes to their posts, especially senior levels. Notwithstanding this, the Commissioners believe that the traditional Public Servant is in an “advantageous position” over the contract worker.
“… The weight of opinion is in favour of the traditional Public Servant as in fact is the strong and unrelenting position of the Guyana Public Service Union exemplified in their portrayal of contract Public Servants as almost interlopers who are keen to invade turf which should be reserved for traditional Public Servants.”
The Commissioners opined that the active participation of contract employees in the Public Service is “of recent vintage” and noted that this phenomenon is based on the acceptance of the Westminster model with its emphasis on values of impartiality and neutrality of public servants in their relations with incumbent governments.
POLITICAL ELEMENTS
In Guyana, however, it appears increasingly difficult to follow the aforementioned principle, given the “presence of dominant political elements” here.
The reality is that the governments preferred to have in place “not neutral or neutered public servants, but those who are among their enthusiastic and active supporters.” “Once this pattern is established it is, in practice, difficult to eradicate, modify or change,” the report added.
It was noted also that the issues relative to contract employees between the government and opposition rests not on the hiring of contract employees, but in the number of contract employees and the effects those numbers have on governance.
“Relevant rules and regulations are not obeyed, honoured or respected, as they should, because ways and means are easily found to avoid or neutralize their influence… At base, it represents a marked failure to act consistently with the law which is often quite clear.”
The report also highlighted that contract employees are usually appointed outside of the jurisdiction of the Public Service Commission (PSC), thereby avoiding the inputs of the latter in making appointments to the Public Service.
Additionally, it was discovered by the Commissioners that there were cases of senior retired Public Servants being rehired on contract on “lucrative terms,” much to the displeasure of the traditional Public Servants who are not being paid handsomely.
DEMOTIVATION
This, the Commissioners said, aided in the demotivation of the traditional public servant employee. As such, it has been recommended that “no Public Servant who retires before attaining the age of 65 years should be employed on contract in view of the proposed age of requirement on attaining 65 years of age.”
CONCERNS
That aside, the issue of arbitrary use of public resources by the political directorate to win political support and their indulgence in other practices deemed illegal and corrupt are also cause for concern.
“One of the emerging concerns is that those in control of public resources and assets are allowed too much leverage in their management, resulting in serious losses to the public, clear indications that there is a dire need for tighter scrutiny and control in such matters.”
It is understandable that there exists a need to employ persons outside of the Public Service who possess the skills not available within the Public Service. However, it is felt that in such circumstances, those contracts must be drafted with specific terms by the Public Service Commission.
“But even in such circumstances clear rules would be needed to ensure that interested persons who possess the qualifications are provided with fair chances to compete with others for appointment.”
It therefore means that all employment within the Public Service must be handled by the PSC.
The Commission also recommended that there needs to be an evaluation of the “optimum complement” of suitably qualified staff for all public offices by human resource and organisational audits.