The public service has become a challenge, particularly with the unattached public servants who are costing the state millions in Kina.
Minister for Public Service, Elias Kapavore, said there are about 915,000 public servants of which over 6,000 are unattached to positions that are still being paid by the government.
“This is costing K190 million each year and 6 to 7 million Kina every fortnight,” he said.
Minister Kapavore challenged heads of departments to deal with the matter respectively in each department before even thinking about recruiting new staff as well as requesting for new resources.
These departments have been urged to clean up their act before making unnecessary statements about the lack of funding and resources in the public sector, reiterating further on the misuse of government properties like vehicles.
“If you’re asking for more staff, what are you doing with the undisciplined officers who wouldn’t come to work at all, who just collect pay for doing nothing?
“You’re asking for more vehicles to organisations, what are you doing about Z-plate vehicles running around after hours at odd places?”
However, he said optimistically that with the conversion of the old Institute of Public Administration to the new Pacific Institute of Leadership and Governance (PILAG), there is still hope to brush up on skills in leadership and governance to improve service delivery in the public service sector.
(Minister for Public Service, Elias Kapavore)