Deputy Governor facing ‘plateful’ of issues
(CNS): The opposition leader said Thursday that the new deputy governor, Franz Manderson, was facing a "plateful" of issues when took up his official role in the Legislative Assembly. As the premier and PPM leader Alden McLaughlin welcomed and congratulated Manderson on his appointment, McLaughlin pointed to some of the hard decisions that he would have to make in his new role and the issues he now faced as head of the public service. “There is much modernisation necessary and many, many matters at the operation level which can do with some real insight and improvement,” the PPM leader said, adding that he felt Manderson had the will “to make right a number of matters that were not right at all.”
McLaughlin pointed in particular to the problem of discipline in the civil service. He said the country could not go on with senior civil servants on what was termed as “required leave” while investigations into why they had supposedly been removed from office dragged on interminably. The opposition leader said that this not only cost the government money but it was also undermining the self-esteem of the service and bringing the whole system into disrepute.
There were many other pressing matters too, he said, regarding the management of the service which were reflected in the Miller-Shaw report. McLaughlin pointed to the issue of civil service benefits which, he said, “everybody seems to tiptoe around because nobody wants to make the really hard decisions,” but he expressed hope that Manderson was the man for the job.
“Mr Manderson has more than a plateful of major issues confronting him immediately,” McLaughlin said. “I believe with his wealth of experience, education, sound judgement and compassionate nature he is well placed to deal with all of this things.”
McKeeva Bush also had lots of praise for the new civil service boss and said he brought “a breath of fresh air” to the post. Bush added that his demeanour would lead to better relations all around and that he had the support of the civil service.
“I believe the civil service … is moving forward into a good era and Mr Manderson as the leader of the civil service with new chief officers who are young and eager to move forward and carry through government policy, this bodes well for the country,” Bush said. The premier added that he was very pleased that Manderson was taking up the post, not least because he was from his district of West Bay and because he was a good Caymanian who was well deserving of the appointment.
Manderson thanked everyone for his welcome and said that since his appointment he had received tremendous support from government, the opposition and the independent member and he was confident that those good relationships would continue.
He said he was taking accountability across the civil service seriously and would be looking to drive down costs. Manderson also revealed that as part of the fourth phase of the review of the civil service there would be a comprehensive review of the various reports that have been done about the changes needed in the public sector.
Rather than going off and doing more reports, he said, he wanted to review what there was already, such as the Miller-Shaw report and others, and work towards getting those recommendations implemented. The deputy governor said there would be a rationalisation of the civil service to see where services could be amalgamated in future.
Category: Politics
So it go. With position comes responsibility, accountability, praise, and blame! I hope and pray that God will guide Franz Manderson's words, thoughts, and action. There is a devil out there
Reduce costs by reducing the number of HR personnel in the departments and COs who have more staff than they need.
How can you reduce the civil servants, when government is increasing its size out of response of an indifferent private sector that refuses to hire enough Caymanians and school-leavers seeking jobs? It is evident that the more unemployed there is, is the likelihood of crime increasing and private entities wanting to seek more foreignors instead of locals. What country or government wouldn't look out for its own citizens and their economic wellbeing????? The government has to maintain its weight, think about crime reduction, and think about the borken families that it will tax social services before it can ever consider making more Caymanians or civil servants unemployed to a predatorial and capitalistic private sector. It is better you say that government need to stop increasing its size! But for you to say it must relieve workers and cause people to become unemployed, is just cruel and cold, and shows you don't see the big picture.
Well said! I could'nt say it better.
The private sector also needs to realise that the function of government is to also keep them in check, otherwise there will be no standards and regulation. Can you imagine a society without no laws!
As it is, there are too many areas that are unregulated in the Cayman Islands that is going to create problems down the road.
Development is not just physical development but the services that go with being an advanced economy with the resultant expectations.
My apologies. I retract what I said. You see I am from the U.S. and cutting staff works to grow a business from where I stand. I don't know you had labor issues on the island. Sorry for the comment.