By PETER KORUGL
THE Chief Secretary to the Government, the Secretary of the Petroleum Department and the provincial administrators of East Sepik and Morobe now have to the power to sack errant public employees on the spot.
The heads of the Institute of Public Administration and the Modillion Hospital in Madang have also been given the same authority in a major experiment by the Government to improve the public service.
They also have the power to hire new officers and create new positions.
The Department of Personnel Management has held the powers since 1986.
Prior to that, the powers rested with the Public Service Commission.
The Deputy Secretary of the Department of Personnel Manager John Kali, handed over documents to the heads at Crown Plaza in Port Moresby yesterday.
“This would definitely make the public service move faster but the Government is mindful that these powers could be abused and that is why we are carrying out this programme on a trail basis,” a senior public servant told The National yesterday.
“We have to see how the selected provinces and institutions use their new powers and how it affects their performance before we decide to delegate the same powers to all government bodies.
“If everything goes well, this will be done by July next year.”