Bougainville civil service salaries

CURRENTLY, as part of the implementation of the Bougainville Autonomy, Bougainville exercises its own public service powers by determining its own pay for its public servants.
Under the Bougainville public service, the departmental heads or the secretaries of the respective departments, earn huge salaries and allowances compared to those below them, which include the deputy secretaries and directors.
The departmental heads of central agencies such as the Department of Personal Management and Justice are paid more than K220,000 per annum, inclusive of allowances.
Other departmental heads, apart from those from central agencies, are paid around K190,000 per annum, inclusive of allowances.
However, the deputy secretaries and even those below the deputy secretaries who are directors are only paid their normal salaries without allowances.
They are not even on contracts and because of this the ABG is unable to attract experienced and well-qualified public servants to the deputy secretary and director’s levels despite those positions being advertised.
In fact, the directors, deputy secretaries and managers are the people who make departmental heads meet their organisational goals and objectives and it is therefore not right for senior officers below the level of department heads not to be paid allowances and not to be on a contract.
There needs to be a review of the payroll system to allow senior positions below the secretary’s position to be on contract and to be paid allowances.
The review should also result in a reduction of the total pay packages of the secretary’s position or chief secretary’s position.
The savings made can be used to pay the allowances of the deputy secretaries or senior officers below them.

Peter Heumito
Bougainville PEA