Laughable manifesto declaration

THE EDITOR: I had to chuckle and roll my eyes when I read that the manifesto of one of the political parties included transforming the public service in order to address the inefficiencies in the system. It seems that this issue is raised at every election and then immediately forgotten by whichever party assumes power.

Hasn’t the ruling party been in power for the last ten years? What has it done to address this problem? It took the ruling party almost ten years to discuss, consult, write a policy, etc just to cease the dress code, so I do not think that anyone should hold his/her breath for change. We are more likely to die of asphyxiation first.

Every public service department always goes to the default excuse – “short staff.” We all know that the staff could be doubled or tripled and it will make no difference. They can digitise and use technology all that they want, but it is likely that the problems of inefficiency and incompetence will continue unabated.

The issue is the culture of the public service which has been allowed to fester since independence without any meaningful intervention. It is often asked of retired public officers who speak out why they did not do anything while they were employed. It is because it is difficult to change that culture from within; one’s life can be made a living hell if one tries even the smallest change. Just ask anyone who has tried.

The culture of the public service needs to be overhauled but that entails political risks, confronting the union and serious consequences for the lackadaisical attitude of the staff and their fearful supervisors and managers, notwithstanding their political affiliations. It also involves support for those who try to effect change.

However, if any potential government is serious about this, may I suggest that it begins its “transformation” with the Registrar General Department. It is unconscionable that any person has to wait years to receive letters of administration or probate a will.

Unfortunately, I suspect that I may be writing this letter again five years from now when another manifesto is released and nothing has been done to tackle the problem, whoever forms the next government.

T RAHAMUT

Chase Village