– Public servants assured of pay hike
MINISTER of Finance, Winston Jordan, on Thursday urged public servants to improve their quality of output in the workplace, and not be distracted with the social media posting during working hours, especially the political ones.
In his presentation at the Budget 2020 Sensitisation and Training session at the Arthur Chung Convention Centre, Jordan said that as the government is working towards increasing remuneration of their officers, it must be matched with improvement in performance and overall delivery of public services.
“I can say with confidence that public servants will get an increase in wages and salaries this year, and can expect a bigger increase in wages and salaries next year, after we would have won the General Elections. But productivity must rise,” Jordan urged.
He alluded to the politically-charged environment, where it is easy to become distracted or side-tracked, as such, he advised that they stay professional, “stay focused, and leave the politics to the politicians.”
“If we are to achieve a modern, competitive nation, managers must manage and supervisors must supervise… And the tracking cannot only relate to the ordinary worker. It has to be enforced from the top to the bottom. Too many senior personnel are featuring on Facebook and other social media during working hours, when they should be attending to the public or otherwise engaged in activities for which they are being paid. Irrespective of our impending new status, more money will mean nothing to us, will not result in our advancement, if we are not disciplined in our approach and outlook,” he pointed out.
The minister said that public servants ought to remember that they are here to deliver quality service to all of Guyana, he further urged them to translate the national aspirations into effective results-based budgets.
“We must be driven by results, not consumed by process. Assessing the performance across all sectors is a critical component to ensuring that we stay focused on the target of achieving a diversified, resilient, low-carbon, people-centered vision as articulated by His Excellency President David Granger,” Jordan said.
He further pointed out that for the past three decades, Guyana was a debt-ridden, pariah state, and today, Guyana has been identified as the fastest growing economy in the world by the National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations (NASDAQ).
“This glowing accolade was preceded by a very favourable assessment of our economy by the recent Article IV Consultation Mission of the IMF, and by the CDB and ECLAC. Guyana is on the rise. Guyana is on the moving forward in the right direction. You can feel it, you can see it. Just witness the influx of many people from CARICOM countries and further afield, as they seek their fortunes here. It is for us, as Guyanese to unite among a common cause, put aside our differences and concentrate on how we can share our country’s prosperity. We either seize it collectively, or lose it individually,” the finance minister said.
These positive strides of the country, minister noted, seems not to be noticed by the people, as the haste to destroy each other prevails. However, it was noted that these blessings should be celebrated and turned into income to continue along the road of growth and development of the nation.
“We all must come together for a Guyana we all will be proud of.” Jordan said.
