Government has appointed a committee to examine all contract workers in the public sector as a matter of priority, Communications Minister Maxie Cuffie announced yesterday, noting a huge number of such positions in the sector.
At Thursday’s weekly government press conference, held at the Office of the Prime Minister, St Clair, Cuffie said the move was in keeping with a promise made in the People’s National Movement’s manifesto.
The announcement follows the non-renewal of short-term contract employees at various government ministries who Prime Minister Keith Rowley said were hired as part of the electioneering of the previous People’s Partnership administration.
Cuffie said the committee would be chaired by Sandra Jones (permanent secretary in the Office of the Prime Minister), acting Chief Personnel Officer (CPO) Beresford Riley, as well as representatives of finance and labour.
The team will receive terms of reference soon.
While Cuffie said he didn’t want to pre-judge their work, he said there were a wide range of contract employees in the public service and the number has been growing. He said the committee would see how best Government could go forward. “There’s a huge number of contract employment in the public service; we’ve reached a point where it’s impacting on government’s delivery, but it also has implications for those people employed in the public service,” he said.
Cuffie said it was not something Government could make an ad hoc decision on. For this reason, he said, the committee included representatives from the CPO’s division, Director of Personnel Administration and all agencies involved in securing contract employment in the public service.
NEW BOARDS ANNOUNCED
Cuffie also announced board appointments for the National Agricultural Marketing and Development Corporation (Namdevco), Metal Industries Company Ltd (MIC) and the Regulated Industries Commission (RIC).
The Namdevco board comprises Dennis Ramdeen (chairman), Julianne Davis, Wayne Innis (deputy chairman), Sateish Ojah, Rayber Bowen, Anne Marie Dardaine, Clarence Jacobs and Felix Clarke.
The MIC board comprises Professor Clement Imbert (chairman), Keith Toby, Delbert Edwards, Winston Boodoo, Mark Sandy, Gail Ragoo and Reynold Rooks. The RIC board comprises former Teaching Service Commission chairman Hyacinth Guy (chairman), Shalini Campbell, Clayton Blackman, Dexter Joseph, Vin Lutchman and Dr Arielle John.