Proposed ministry valid and necessary

THE EDITOR: Novel or not, the proposal for a new ministry of efficiency and implementation announced by Prime Minister Stuart Young is valid and indeed necessary in TT, where those responsible for implementing decisions of government invariably do so in slow motion, or at times not at all.

John Humphrey saw how this public service “tradition” tied up NAR policies like a Sunday crab when they were in office 1986/91. So, in 1995/2001 he urged Basdeo Panday to appoint a minister in his office to monitor implementation of policies. Panday agreed.

Indeed, at one stage, in another incarnation, Oropouche East MP Dr Roodal Moonilal had that responsibility in prime minister Panday’s office. It was a good move, but there were drawbacks rooted in outdated public service rules and regulations.

Now, Young intends to have this valuable tool at his disposal in a new government. But it would be supported by the weight of ministerial authority in a formal ministry of efficiency and implementation.

There is a big difference in this approach which has not escaped political scientist Dr Hamid Ghany, but went completely over the head of another commentator, Dr Shane Mohammed, in reports published over the weekend.

Perhaps Mohammed did not research to find any available data with respect to implementation of government policies in a public service governed by archaic 1922/27 colonial rules. He may as well did not have the experience in such matters. The goodly commentator was too superficial on such a weighty subject.

No wonder why former prime minister Dr Keith Rowley quite rightly accused university lecturers of peddling “their own opinions on issues that do not allow them to have their own facts.”

HARRY PARTAP

former MP