Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Dr the Right Honourable Keith Mitchell, promised “to hold accountable Permanent Secretaries and Finance Officers across the Public Service, who cause undue delays in processing payments to public workers.” That was the overriding theme at a meeting with Permanent Secretaries and Finance Officers, called by the Grenadian leader and Minister for Finance on Wednesday, 14 February.
The Prime Minister explained that he called the meeting because of serious concerns stemming from delays of payments to some public workers at the end of January. Dr Mitchell reminded that finance officers play a critical role in the service because they are responsible for the actual payments of people’s bills. The nation therefore depends on them to uphold that responsibility in a timely, efficient, caring and unbiased manner.
According to the Prime Minister, the January disruption was especially more troubling in cases where it affected workers on the lower salary scales. He noted that, as a caring employer, the system must therefore be held accountable and must be prepared “to take action when any officer deliberately does not do his or her job in the execution of duties to workers and to the country.”
In the spirit of responsibility, the Finance Minister further stated that it was painful to hear of workers not receiving salaries on time last month. He promised that any delays in the execution of payments that occurred because of the slowness of the new payment system are being addressed, and that the Accountant General and her team have advised accordingly that they will postpone the full implementation of the new system until April, so as to give workers ample time to learn and adjust to the new system.
Dr Mitchell ended the meeting by reiterating that the officers must uphold their duty to the workers of this country; thanking officers who continue to do so and cautioning them to discharge their duties in a professional and unbiased manner.
Ministry of Finance
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The unbias that the PM speaks of started at the very top and he needs to look into the mirror also the GG for them to see where the bias started and we the citizens need answers about what they did with 8 staff at the electoral office; we need answers from those two top offices before pointing fingers at their subordinates.