–according to Dr. Singh

AMIDST concerns raised by the Opposition, A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC), about the operation of the public service, Senior Minister in the Office of the President with responsibility for Finance, Dr. Ashni Singh, has reminded the coalition that it went against its own rules while in office, to allow a former Public Service Minister to secure salary in lieu of leave.

In a powerful address to the National Assembly on Thursday, Dr. Singh said: “When Honourable Member, Tabitha J. Sarabo-Halley, was appointed Minister of Public Service [prior to 2020], she secured a letter signed by the Honourable Member, Dawn Hastings, as showing she would be paid her salary in lieu of leave, while other public servants were being told they would lose.”

Under the former coalition administration, a circular had been issued informing public servants that they would have to take their leave or they would lose it entirely.
Dr. Singh contended that the very Opposition that is now trying to champion the rights of public servants, went against its own rules while in office.

The minister revealed, however, that while the minister had secured the letter from the then Minister of State, the Finance Ministry at that time, being cognisant of the former rule, declined to pay Sarabo-Halley.
“When the PPP/C assumed office, we received a lawyer’s letter from the Honourable Member, Roysdale Forde, demanding payment of salary in lieu of leave to the [former Public Service Minister],” Dr. Singh said.

At the end of the legal proceedings, the Finance Ministry, he said, had to pay the former coalition minister a “huge sum,” which she and her government purportedly denied thousands of public servants.
“You cannot come here and champion the rights of public servants… you served nobody but yourself and that is why you are on that side of the House and that is why you will be on that side of the House for a very, very long time…,” Dr. Singh contended.

As it is now, the incumbent People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) is working to enhance the conditions within the public service, especially regarding payments.
“This government does not want to see public servants wait three months to be paid [but] there is a process that if you are on a new employment list or recruitment. The agency has to submit your name, there are credentials and documents that have to be submitted, within a timely manner through multiple agencies,” Minister of Public Service, Sonia Parag, said during her presentation to the National Assembly on Thursday.

The minister was at the time making her contribution to a debate on a motion put forth by Opposition Parliamentarian, Sarabo-Halley, who called for the “payment of first salary to public servants in one month.”
Minister Parag affirmed that the government does not believe that a public servant should have to wait for three months to be paid.

“We try within a timely manner to get persons their salary but it involves a multi-agency collaboration. I am saying that we are going to work collaboratively with all agencies to ensure within a reasonable time after a request has been sent to get persons their salaries,” the minister said.

She further noted: “We are putting a system in place to assist, to ensure public servants get their salaries within a reasonable time. No public servant should wait three months for a salary [but] we cannot put the timeframe of one month. Where there are bottlenecks, we will look at those bottlenecks.”