Public service needs improvement, says Lupari

THE public service needs to respond in an effective manner to the demands of the business and the private sectors, Chief Secretary Isaac Lupari, pictured, says.
He told a business breakfast in Port Moresby on Thursday that operating the public service was costly.
“Just to give you the statistics on wages and salaries alone, that’s about K4.5 billion that 300,000 public service consume. That’s about 35 per cent of the entire annual budget,” Lupari said.
“So in anyone’s calculation, that should be concerning.”
He said the plan was to reduce the wage bill and free up some funds for the productive sectors “so we can provide the state’s platform for private sector growth”.
He said there were issues which needed to be identified in the public service.
“Within the public service, we were not talking among ourselves,” he said.
“What we have been doing in the past years was to improve communication among ourselves so that we have a better appreciation of each other.
“It is better to improve communication within ourselves then we will work with the business community in an effective manner.
“Also, one of the things we are trying to do is to improve coordination.
“Making sure we are better coordinated to respond to the demands of the private sector.”
Lupari said they also wanted to see a multi-skilled public service.
“At the moment, when you visit many of the departments, you find that they have a lot of people but don’t have the skills to do the work.”