Renatta Mohammed, second from left, CPA Canada’s Lead Business Development Consultant, Caribbean Region, in conversation with Minister of Industry, International Business, Commerce and Small Business Development, Donville Inniss. Looking on is Alan Ribeiro, left, Partner, Consulting with Deloitte Inc. Canada and Andrew Brathwaite, right, President of ICAB.
A Cabinet Minister is suggesting that public sector reform is needed now more than ever.
Minister of Industry, International Business, Commerce and Small Business Development, Donville Inniss, is adamant that this country cannot build a more resilient and sustainable economy which is focused on achieving growth annually, unless there is a strong, vibrant, efficient and visionary public sector. Inniss contended that even “die-hard” private sector persons like him, must accept that a well-structured, managed and led public sector is very key for national development.
He made the comments while delivering the feature address at the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Barbados and Chartered Professional Accountants (CPA) Canada’s Public Sector Conference 2018 at the Hilton Hotel yesterday morning, under the theme ‘Public Financial Management Reforms in Barbados – Challenges and Opportunities’. During his address, the Minister went on to cite a number of things he believes must be done in order to improve the functioning of the public sector in this country. These, he said, include greater use of technology, greater efficiency and a reduction in the size of the public sector. He made the point while stating that in his opinion, the human resource and financial management of Government has become too centralised and bureaucratic and lacks an adequate use of technology.
In respect of technology specifically, Inniss contended that money could be saved by the urgent deployment and use of technology across the sector. He strengthened the argument, as he said that while he had no empirical evidence, he suspected that as much as 60 per cent of the paper imported into this country is used by the public sector.
“Furthermore, the use of technology to interface with customers is absolutely critical. Except for a dinosaur mentality on our end, I see no reason why nearly all applications for services before Government departments cannot be done electronically and decisions communicated electronically. Yes there will always be instances where hard documents are required at the end, but not necessarily at the commencement of the process,” he stated.
With that in mind, he revealed that he is not just talking the talk, as he has instructed departments within his ministry, including Corporate Affairs, the International Business Division and the Department of Commerce to urgently develop systems that would allow applicants to submit all applications and supporting documents in an electronic format. Inniss made the point while saying that reform is needed not just in central government, but the state-owned enterprises (SOEs) as well, as he argued that many have perhaps been kept in operation more for political reasons that economic sense. His comments came as he lamented that the relevance of many SOEs have diverted from the original concept, their costs are unjustified and are duplicating efforts.
“A future Barbados cannot sustain a public sector, as defined in its broadest context, both in terms of size and efficiencies. My personal opinion is that we must strive for greater efficiency and reduce size over time as we expand our private sector,” he stated. (JRT)