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EDITORIAL -Mrs Sinclair-McCalla's tough job
Published: Tuesday | November 10, 2009
By the time Mrs Patricia Sinclair-McCalla takes up her job as head of a unit to review the public sector and advise on how it might be rationalised, it would be six weeks since Prime Minister Bruce Golding signalled the intended restructuring.
Although that late-night sitting of Parliament did not deliver the immediate tough actions Jamaicans had expected from the recast Budget, Mr Golding still managed to infer a sense of urgency to the need for planning a reorganisation of the public sector, ahead of implementation by next April, the start of the new budget cycle. Jamaica, it is obvious, cannot properly afford to carry a government bureaucracy of 117,000 people that this fiscal year will cost nearly $127 billion, or approximately 12 per cent of GDP.
Fiscal deficit
Indeed, the Government's current wage bill represents a hike of 47 per cent in two years, notwithstanding the freeze Mr Golding imposed earlier this year. Outside of debt-servicing costs, which accounts for about half of government spending, wages, at 23 per cent, account for the next biggest chunk of the Budget. These two items, combined, are the main contributors to a fiscal deficit that, currently, is running at more than eight per cent of GDP, which the International Monetary Fund says the Government must slash substantially if it wants the US$1.2 billion it is trying to borrow.
However, overhauling the public sector, despite the wealth of plans that already exists, is not for the faint-hearted or governments squeamish about taking tough decisions. For while Mr Golding stressed that job cuts would not be the first order of the exercise, he conceded that it was inevitable.
Mr Golding and his administration, it was assumed, had moved beyond those who, in the past, had "lacked the will to implement", while waiting for "a more appropriate time". We, in the circumstances, expected immediacy.
Aggressive engagement
While Mr Golding might have missed the great sense of moment, the job he has assigned Mrs Sinclair-McCalla is no less important, difficult or urgent. What is not clear, however, is whether Mrs Sinclair-McCalla understands the enormity of the task and whether she has been appropriately empowered to get the job done.
The point is that we do not believe that it will be sufficient for Mrs Sinclair-McCalla, the PM's former permanent secretary, and her team, to blow the dust off old reports and produce a synopsis of their findings for Cabinet to peruse. This job demands an aggressive engagement of all crevices of the public sector, including some hitherto deemed sacred to all but the most powerful bureaucrats.
In this regard, Mrs McCalla-Sinclair can expect to have to stare down powerful official and tenacious protectors of turf for them to justify the existence or continued independence of their fiefdoms. Which is why it is important that the PM makes public the terms of reference of Mrs Sinclair-McCalla's team and to ensure she is appropriately empowered to get the job done. And that she has the will.
If not, this will be just another of the projects of grand intent, spoken of with nice words and left to fritter. Mr Golding would have wasted everyone's time.
Published: Tuesday | November 10, 2009
By the time Mrs Patricia Sinclair-McCalla takes up her job as head of a unit to review the public sector and advise on how it might be rationalised, it would be six weeks since Prime Minister Bruce Golding signalled the intended restructuring.
Although that late-night sitting of Parliament did not deliver the immediate tough actions Jamaicans had expected from the recast Budget, Mr Golding still managed to infer a sense of urgency to the need for planning a reorganisation of the public sector, ahead of implementation by next April, the start of the new budget cycle. Jamaica, it is obvious, cannot properly afford to carry a government bureaucracy of 117,000 people that this fiscal year will cost nearly $127 billion, or approximately 12 per cent of GDP.
Fiscal deficit
Indeed, the Government's current wage bill represents a hike of 47 per cent in two years, notwithstanding the freeze Mr Golding imposed earlier this year. Outside of debt-servicing costs, which accounts for about half of government spending, wages, at 23 per cent, account for the next biggest chunk of the Budget. These two items, combined, are the main contributors to a fiscal deficit that, currently, is running at more than eight per cent of GDP, which the International Monetary Fund says the Government must slash substantially if it wants the US$1.2 billion it is trying to borrow.
However, overhauling the public sector, despite the wealth of plans that already exists, is not for the faint-hearted or governments squeamish about taking tough decisions. For while Mr Golding stressed that job cuts would not be the first order of the exercise, he conceded that it was inevitable.
Mr Golding and his administration, it was assumed, had moved beyond those who, in the past, had "lacked the will to implement", while waiting for "a more appropriate time". We, in the circumstances, expected immediacy.
Aggressive engagement
While Mr Golding might have missed the great sense of moment, the job he has assigned Mrs Sinclair-McCalla is no less important, difficult or urgent. What is not clear, however, is whether Mrs Sinclair-McCalla understands the enormity of the task and whether she has been appropriately empowered to get the job done.
The point is that we do not believe that it will be sufficient for Mrs Sinclair-McCalla, the PM's former permanent secretary, and her team, to blow the dust off old reports and produce a synopsis of their findings for Cabinet to peruse. This job demands an aggressive engagement of all crevices of the public sector, including some hitherto deemed sacred to all but the most powerful bureaucrats.
In this regard, Mrs McCalla-Sinclair can expect to have to stare down powerful official and tenacious protectors of turf for them to justify the existence or continued independence of their fiefdoms. Which is why it is important that the PM makes public the terms of reference of Mrs Sinclair-McCalla's team and to ensure she is appropriately empowered to get the job done. And that she has the will.
If not, this will be just another of the projects of grand intent, spoken of with nice words and left to fritter. Mr Golding would have wasted everyone's time.
The opinions on this page, except for the above, do not necessarily reflect the views of The Gleaner. To respond to a Gleaner editorial, email us: editor@gleanerjm.com or fax: 922-6223. Responses should be no longer than 400 words. Not all responses will be published.