Government saved $147 million from the implementation of the recommendations contained in the report of the Task Force to Reduce Waste in the Public Sector, commonly known as the Orane Report.
In an interview recently, Cabinet Secretary Dr. Carlton Davis said the savings were an indication that the government was committed to improving the overall efficiency of the public sector even as it moved to provide a better quality of service to the public.
"Some ministries and departments have moved with a sense of urgency to address the areas recommended in the report. The implementation of some of the recommendations required that an enormous amount of preparatory work had to be done to change systems and procedures and this could not be done overnight, Dr. Davis said.
The rationalisation and utilisation of space and the rationalisation of allowances and overseas missions account for the largest portion of the savings.
"Seven ministries have taken steps to rationalise and maximise available office space and this has resulted in savings of close to $71 million. These entities have relocated or consolidated their operations. For example, the Ministry of Agriculture has saved more than $21 million by providing accommodation for 14 of its agencies at the central ministry", Dr. Davis disclosed.
On the matter of the rationalisation of overseas missions the Cabinet Secretary said that the closure of the JAMPRO office in Port of Spain, Trinidad, the Moscow Embassy, the consolidation of tourism operations and the 20 per cent reduction in the operating expenses of the Office of the Jamaica Defence Force in the United Kingdom have realised savings of almost $24 million.
Meanwhile, overseas and domestic travel accounted for more than $8.5 million in savings. "Some ministries and departments have implemented car pooling, group visits and planned itineraries for domestic travel. A number of ministries including the Office of the Prime Minister, have reduced their travel expenditure over the last year. We expect that we will see further reduction in this particular area", Dr. Davis said.
In addition to the cost savings measures, the report recommended that a performance evaluation system be established for Permanent Secretaries. This came into effect on April 1 and involves assessing the performance of Permanent Secretaries.
The Task Force was appointed by the Government to recommend ways of reducing public expenditure and improve the efficiency of the public service. The report outlining a number of recommendations was submitted to the Government in January of last year.
