As members of the Public Service Union (PSU) discuss matters of remedy and compensation consequent upon last December’s judgement against the Public Service Commission (PSC), Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves has raised the matter of the possibility of appealing that judgement.
Prime MInister Gonsalves raise the issue recently while a guest on Xtreme 104.3 Radio as the matter of the judgement was being discussed.
“I’d been advised on the ruling, which is part of advice which I receive on many things. There is even advice that I’ve received from certain quarters that this ruling should be appealed because there are certain things which have been said in the ruling which they felt ..Well. let me not say what the person say/felt because I don’t want to make a critique of the judge’s ruling on the basis of somebody’s advice.
If the honourable Attorney General, for instance … considers that there ought to be an appeal on this, there would be an appeal. I think they have 6 weeks in which to appeal. And I don’t think 6 weeks have elapsed as yet,” Prime Minister Gonsalves stated.
The Prime Minister said, however, that he has been advised by the Cabinet Secretary and the Chief Personnel Officer that they are addressing a number of the matters on which there may be a paucity – an insufficiency – of information which go to the Public Service Commission.
Prime Minister Gonsalves reminded that since entering office in 2001 he had been calling for public sector reform but the public servants themselves have not been cooperating with public sector reform in the way in which they should.
Asked why not, Prime Minister Gonsalves said it was an issue of documentation where some persons, for example, don’t want to sign out when they are leaving. He noted earlier that inormation which should be logged on public servants which should assist in appraisal are not done because some senior public servants “just don’t want to write.”