Cut public sector? Actually we hired 2,400

By RASHAD ROLLE

Tribune Senior Reporter

rrolle@tribunemedia.net

THE Minnis administration, which came to power promising to right-size the civil service after the Christie administration hired scores of people, has made at least 2,402 people permanent members of the civil service and has promoted more than 1,600 people throughout government since taking office.

During his contribution to the budget debate yesterday, Public Service Minister Brensil Rolle also revealed that despite the fiscal woes caused by COVID-19, in June and July the government will retroactively pay public officers money consistent with the increments, reclassification and salary advances they did not receive last year because of the pandemic.

“We’re gonna pay them and we’re gonna make their pay retroactive to the date that they were supposed to be promoted,” he said.

Mr Rolle said of the hires under the Minnis administration, 600 were part-time workers who didn’t have status and are now fully employed. Seven hundred of them are people such as those who work in the Ministry of Education as teacher’s aides and security officers – all those persons who perform those essential services,” Mr Rolle said.

One thousand one hundred and two of them are people who were a part of the National Job Creation and Skills Enhancement Programme, also known as the 52-week programme.

Although the programme was established to provide unemployed people between 19 and 30 with hands-on skills to enhance their ability to find gainful employment, the government has decided to permanently hire the people. The programme began in 2018 and was renewed the following year.

The 1,102 people who now join the ranks of the civil service include 81 in Abaco, 31 in Acklins, 17 in Central Andros, 15 in Mangrove Cay, 87 in North Andros, 15 in South Andros, six in the Berry Islands, eight in Bimini, 27 in Cat Island, 14 in Crooked Island, 14 in Central Eleuthera, 25 in North Eleuthera, 46 in South Eleuthera, 18 in Exuma, 139 in Grand Bahama, 24 in Inagua, 38 in Long Island, 17 in Mayaguana, seven in San Salvador and 461 in New Providence.

When the Minnis administration came to office, it attacked the hiring practices of the previous Christie administration. A Department of Statistics Labour Force survey released in 2018, estimated that up to November 2017, 2,500 people were let go by the Minnis administration. Mr Rolle has previously rejected this figure and did so again yesterday.

In 2019, Mr Rolle told The Tribune that the government rehired a larger number of the people who were engaged from 2012 to 2017 and subsequently let go under the Minnis administration.

After vowing to right-size the civil service upon taking office, Mr Rolle yesterday praised the many hires of the Minnis administration, saying the hires demonstrates his government’s record for building capacity.

“It shows that we continue to invest in human beings because that’s how we build a country, that’s how countries exist,” he said.

Mr Rolle said between June 2017 and December 2020, 1,600 people have been promoted in the government system.

“We hired hundreds of individuals, now we are promoting them in the system,” he said.

He added that the number does not include 471 pending matters for the Department of Immigration, 278 matters for the Customs Department, the largest promotions exercise ever for the Department of Corrections and some 300 people who will be promoted at the Ministry of Public Works.

“I said to (Minister of Works Desmond Bannister) privately, man, it look like you promoting every single person in the Ministry of Works. I told my staff who has responsibility for the Ministry of Works, please don’t bring me no more Ministry of Works things because every day you bringing me something from the Ministry of Works about promotion. But it speaks to two facts. One, that for a long time we’ve ignored some of the ministries and departments and the DPM has made a carefully considered position and he has bought into the argument that these persons who are performing should be promoted.”

Mr Rolle said the administration wants to ensure that workers have the “capacity to earn a pension like everybody else.”

“Notwithstanding these difficult times, we are promoting hundreds of people,” he said.

The International Monetary Fund has repeatedly encouraged the government to slash its civil service wage bill.

Comments

tribanon says...

LMAO. Many, many more than 2,402 people have been hired by civil service since May 2017 and many, many more than 1,600 people in civil service have been promoted since May 2017.
Brensil Rolle, like Minnis, clearly thinks we're all stupid.

Since May 2017 the government has been the only significant employer of persons entering the labour force because the incompetent and corrupt Minnis led FNM administration has failed to do anything conducive to the creation of significant job opportunities in the private sector. In fact, Bahamian owned private sector businesses have never had it worse under any previous administration compared to the current one led by Minnis, D'Aguilar and Bannister.

Posted 11 June 2021, 1:29 p.m. Suggest removal

Bobsyeruncle says...

You can't just point the finger at Minnis and the current administration. For the most part, there have been no private sector incentives championed by either this or previous governments, both PLP & FNM.

Posted 11 June 2021, 5:01 p.m. Suggest removal

licks2 says...

Hey. .don't try to argue anything with trib. . .he/she talks up a storm and just say a whole lot of nothing!! Pick through that statement and you will not take the time to respond to it. . .too many absolute statements in there. . .he/she knows ALL THE FACTS ABOUT EVERYTHING. . .for sure. . .no matter what anyone says. . .be he expert or be he from this site!! Thats either an expert or an "shoulder with a chip" on it!

Posted 16 June 2021, 5:54 p.m. Suggest removal

John says...

Four people in the public service to do one job! Like always.

Posted 11 June 2021, 2:59 p.m. Suggest removal

WETHEPEOPLE says...

And none can get it done correctly and efficiently

Posted 11 June 2021, 4:03 p.m. Suggest removal

sheeprunner12 says...

What is the biggest issue with the Bahamian Public Service?????? ........ The hired/payroll workers OR the rules/laws governing those workers????

Who can/will answer that in the Government????????

Posted 11 June 2021, 4:32 p.m. Suggest removal

licks2 says...

Both. . .one takes the other for fools and the other acts the fool!

There is a saying in classic management principles: "you get just what you reward". . . PS keeps promoting their dumb friend, family and lovers. . .they are the ones "taking home all the beacon" so to speak!

Good and efficent PS are either on "cruise mode" because they don't get promoted for their hard and dedicated work. . .or the private sector "catch them up" beacuse they tend to be the best trained workers!

I would agree based on the information coming to me from persons in PS. . .it seem that this government has gone asleep at the wheel when it comes to making the PS fair for all workers. Many persons are leaving because of it! One said that it is useless to apply for a promotion! Even if the PS commission choose the best candidates after interviwing persons for a position, varioue directors will just "ignore" them and place his/her puppets in positions anyway!!

The government is asleep at the wheel when it comes to a healthy PS!! Some of those people have not been promoted in decades. . .while friend, family and lovers have been promoted 3 and 4 times!! The PS directorate has created the monster of inefficient activity we call PS!! Good workers have given up as hopeless to get fair play in PS. . .while incompetents ranks right up there with full pockets!! Good hard working PS has nothing to look forward to except their pay at the end of every month. . .for many years, then go home with basically nothing for the years of dedication!!

Posted 16 June 2021, 6:15 p.m. Suggest removal

donald says...

Government is always wasteful at best. Keep it as small as possible. Get rid of government running private companies ie: Bahamas Air, BOB, hotels, cable, phone, and water, etc.

Posted 11 June 2021, 8:49 p.m. Suggest removal

bahamianson says...

Yeah well, since youll hire over 2400 people , toull pay them out of youll salaries.

Posted 11 June 2021, 8:53 p.m. Suggest removal

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