Kingstown, St Vincent and the Grenadines – Prime Minister Dr Godwin Friday has accused the former administration of creating a culture within the public service where civil servants felt unable to carry out their duties independently, saying many workers were forced to “look over their shoulder” before making decisions.
Speaking during an interview on NBC Radio about the proposed National Development Bank and wider government reforms, Friday said his administration is seeking to empower public servants and remove political interference from the functioning of government departments.
“You know that the problem was in the past government?” Friday said during the programme. “The public servants, they know what they’re supposed to do. They know what their jobs are or were. But they weren’t allowed to function properly.”
The Prime Minister said workers in the public service often feared making professional decisions without political approval.
“They always had to look over their shoulder to see if this is politically sanctioned,” he said. “And when you do that, then you slow everything down because you can’t do your work because you’re never sure if you’re going to run afoul of some minister in the government because you made a decision that they don’t like.”
Friday said his government wants to create a more efficient and responsive public service by allowing workers to operate according to their professional judgment.
“I said to public servants, do your work,” he said. “Once this is your professional judgment, do it, do it properly. You’re not going to be micromanaged by your minister.”