Bodoe: Public servants comb hair in office

Fyzabad MP Dr Lackram Bodoe said in the Parliament on Friday he recently saw a video of public servants combing one another’s hair, in what appeared to be a government office, during working hours, in full view of the public.

“I hope I am wrong about this. Certainly behaviour like that is not becoming of those who are paid by the State,” Bodoe said in his contribution to the 2019 budget debate in the House of Representatives.

Alluding to Government’s initiatives to improve efficiency in the public service, including customer service training for employees, Bodoe said reform of the public sector and getting value for money remains an elusive dream in TT over several administrations.

“And, we are yet to have some direct impact in terms of how we improve the public service,” he told members.

“And whilst I take note of the initiatives mentioned by the member for Port of Spain South (Marlene Mc Donald), I also ant to point out that they have a long way to go and there is still a whole lot to be done.”

Referring to economist Terrence Farrell’s book, We Like It So, which speaks to the complacency in the country, Bodoe said: “I do not believe that this is the case. I believe that we as a people still have to fulfill our potential and we just need proper leadership, management and guidance from those who have been given the mandate to take us there.”

Bodoe said while there are many factors that impact on values, attitudes and behaviour, he believes a system of reward and reprimand should be implemented within the public sector to bring about measurable change.

“We continue to experience very poor service at the majority of Government institutions and everyone has to wonder what is the reason for this?

“Is it because there are no sanctions in place for poor service? Is it there is lack of supervision? These are issues that really need to be addressed.”

Bodoe said the issue of flexi time and working from home must be examined meaningfully.

“This is especially important Mr Deputy Speaker (Esmond Forde), in view of the fact that we face a tremendous problem in terms of people getting to work, especially when they live in south and central (Trinidad).

Bodoe said lengthy periods spent in traffic compounded the problem of low productivity.

“One wonders when you reach a public office, as a consumer and member of the public and you encounter someone who is unfriendly or is not willing to talk to you , whether or not they are not suffering from the fact that they have been in traffic for three and four hours.”

He said the new price of fuel is going to make that worse.