Minister wants to see best standard of service delivery

National

PUBLIC Service Minister Wesley Nukundj wants to see the best standard of service delivery during his term.
He also wants to see 70 per cent of the public service machinery based in the districts.
Nukundj said of the 119,962 public servants around the country, only 10 per cent should remain in Waigani, Port Moresby as policy advisers. He is replacing Elias Kapavore who takes over as Health and HIV-AIDS Minister in the recent Cabinet reshuffle.
Nukundj said around K3.4 billion was spent on public servants’ remuneration – about one third of the national budget.
“Are you (public servants) getting paid for delivering? Is it worth the government spending that amount of money?” he said. He said around 6,070 public servants were “unattached”, using up K260 million every year sitting around doing nothing.
He said about 6,055 had reached the retirement age.
Nukundj said he would address the huge blowout in the national budget. Although the payroll system is now being controlled by Finance, he will ensure only the people who are working are paid. It is one of the cost-saving measures to address the budget blowout.
He also wants to see heads of departments and agencies appointed through the merit-based appointment process, and to cut down on acting appointments in consultation with the Public Service Commission.