Simpson Miller

Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller disclosed yesterday her intention to establish in her office a unit to monitor government projects, as well as to prompt departments and agencies to address small problems before they become major issues.

Simpson Miller mentioned the idea in the context of her efforts to bring greater efficiency to the Government as well as enhance economic growth.

"I have instructed my office to look at getting permission to establishing this monitoring department," Simpson Miller told editors at a mostly off-the-record briefing with senior editors at Vale Royal, the Prime Minister's official residence.

Specifics of the mandate

The specifics of the mandate of the proposed unit was not immediately available, but Simpson Miller suggested that it could act as a liaison between the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) and other agencies, prodding to get things done.

It would also receive and monitor community and press complaints of things which, if not corrected, could hold back development.

It was in the same context that Simpson Miller said that the Cabinet was now reviewing government operations in an effort to remove bureaucratic red tape and speed up approval for investment and development projects.

"We are looking at how we can improve in a number of areas," she said.

Economic growth stunted

The Prime Minister said that insufficiency and inadequacy of staff, compounded by an inability to pay, weakened public sector capacity and held back economic growth.

Even her own office suffered from the problem.

"I do not have the team and numbers of staff to keep up with the work load that I have," she said.

Public sector employees mostly earn significantly less that their counterparts in the private enterprise and Simpson Miller conceded that often ministries hired people with the title of consultants to get around pay constraints to employ, on contract, people with required skills.

business@gleanerjm.com