President to establish ‘high-level committee’ on Public Service

President David Granger on Thursday convened a meeting with executive members of the Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU) to discuss the establishment of a High-Level Committee on the Public Service, according to a Government statement.

The GPSU’s side was led by its President Patrick Yarde, while the Government’s side was led by President Granger.

“President Granger said the meeting is a demonstration of Government’s commitment to engage the GPSU in an effort to ensure that workers in the public service can earn a liveable wage, enjoy better working conditions and benefit from training,” the Government statement noted.

At the conclusion of the meeting, the two sides agreed to have the Committee formed by June 1, 2019.  It is expected that the Committee will meet and address a plethora of issues and formulate a report, which would be taken to Cabinet.

President Granger has, in the past, said the Government will make all the necessary investments to ensure an efficient and reliable Public Service is built.

According to the President, the Public Service cannot be disassociated from the concept of public trust and must comprise men and women of intelligence, integrity and impartiality if it is to enjoy public trust and to achieve its administrative objectives.

He has also noted that the administration is serious about implementing reforms that will create “a brand new Public Service”, one which is characterised by fairness, equality, responsiveness, reliability and efficiency and it is, for this reason, a Commission of Inquiry (COI) into the Public Service was launched in 2016.

Some recommendations from the COI are geared at improving working conditions and other factors which influence the work of public servants are already being implemented by the Government.

Others present at the meeting Thursday were Minister of State, Mrs Dawn Hastings- Williams; Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Mr. Basil Williams; Minister of Finance, Mr. Winston Jordan; Minister of Public Service, Mrs. Tabitha Sarabo-Halley; Minister of Social Protection, Ms. Amna Ally and Director General of the Ministry of the Presidency, Mr. Joseph Harmon.