Public sector apathy hurting reforms process – Malahoo Forte

The lack of trust between parliamentarians and their constituents, coupled with the entrenched culture in the public sector where employees work at their own pace, rather than sticking to timelines and meeting deadlines, is seriously undermining the public sector reform process, Minister of Legal and Constitutional Affairs Marlene Malahoo Forte has conceded.

This, she admitted, is hurting the government’s effort to pass laws which are critical to reining in the murder rate which saw 1,498 murders being recorded for last year and the process is being further slowed by the paucity of constitutional scholars who are willing to lend their expertise to the process.

“Prime Minister Holness has been very serious about reorganising government to make it more effective. We do not come to the public with everything that is being done at every stage and I know that it is not easy to say to you, ‘trust me’, because trust has been broken for a long time and the work to rebuild it has been slow and fraught with all kinds of challenges,” she said at the seminar on ‘Defending and Securing Jamaica’s Development: A Strategic Security Analysis’.

She said ministry has been collaborating with the Office of the Cabinet and working closely with the legislative teams from different ministries to ensure that policy issues are clearly defined and settled, but has run into some very strong headwinds, the former attorney general shared.

DIFFICULTY

“The difficulty we experience is the lack of clarity and cogency with the policy intent around the subject matter. The drafting instructions must be comprehensive and they must accurately reflect policy imperatives, and one of them there is the thorny issue of deadlines to be met.

“There are many big challenges, but it appears as if the public sector is not culturised into meeting deadlines. I hear private sector does a lot better at that … but it is something that we have grown unconscious of, the need to work in set deadlines. So when you hear about the constitutional reform work to further public sector reform, it needs your support because we cannot continue with the current ethos in the public sector and expect better results,” Minister Malahoo Forte appealed.

Jamaica’s Independence constitution is in urgent need of being modernised to reflect the country’s developing aspirations, but this effort has also been sidelined, according to the minister.

“Boy, you couldn’t believe that just when we ready to step off … spokes get stuck in the wheel, but be assured, we will not be daunted,” she declared, even though the required expertise which is available locally, is not as readily accessible.

“Practically for everything in national security we have to do very deep dives on constitutional matters and it is interesting that we do not have many constitutional scholars who understand the perspective, or are prepared to advance the perspective of the State. Instead, many are really interested in sueing the State. So they have very little interest of what is required for a strong, effective state and that’s the challenge we face in Jamaica.

“I won’t say too much here because every time we talk about what is required for effective governance and strong government, you hear one set a people bawl out say don’t take weh people’s rights, without understanding that democracy is about balancing rights and responsibilities.”

CS