New Private sector Association head calls for Govt to privatise some of its workforce
Friday July 01 2011 | 02:49 AM

Government has been presented with a proposal to reduce its massive workforce and "transfer" the human resources to the private sector.

The unexpected suggestion came today from newly-installed head of the Barbados Private Sector Association, John Williams, who believes the resulting effect would be increased national productivity and reduced Government expenditure.

He was concerned that it was taking too long to transform and reform the public sector and offered his solution instead of others on the table.

"If it is necessary, as I think it may be, to transfer some human resources from the public to the private sector in order to raise national productivity and reduce government expenditure, there is no reason why this cannot be done in as humane and phased a manner with the full cooperation of the Social Partners. Barbados is, as we have been reminded, not just an economy but a society," he said during a hand-over breakfast at Hilton Barbados this morning.

"To achieve this transformation within the public sector we have to make people accountable, but we also have to give them the tools to do the job.

"We must allow them to make decisions using their good judgment but insist on transparency. We must develop means of rewarding good performance, both financially as well as through opportunities for personal development and promotion," the private sector spokesman noted.

Williams referred to "unfair and unjustified criticism" where "public sector reform has on occasion been criticised as persons wishing to dismiss large numbers of public sector workers, or tear apart our social fabric".

Speaking to an audience that included government and trade union representatives, he said: "Expecting a burst water main to be repaired in hours rather than days, a driver's licence renewal to take minutes not hours, or the grass on the verges of our ABC Highway to be cut when it is inches high not feet high is not unreasonable."

"It is not advocating the tearing apart our social fabric. These are but examples of why we are calling for public sector reform.

But he also asserted that reform should not be left to civil service alone, since increased productivity was a national goal.

"This reform must spread beyond the public sector and must be instituted across Barbados. Productivity must become our mantra and we must discard the notion that productivity means doing the same things with fewer people," he said.

"The real benefit of productivity is when we harness all our resources to produce even more for the benefit of all Barbadians. I am not so na√ve to imagine this can happen overnight, neither am I so jaded to think it cannot happen at all," Williams added.

Additionally, the new BPSA chairman also urged officials to find a home-grown solution to the island's economic problems

"The one factor common to all of them is the need for a sound and fiscally prudent economic environment in which to operate. And so my message from the business community is this -- we do not need someone from outside to tell us what the state of play is or what we need to do," he stated.

"We as Barbadians are mature enough to understand the seriousness of our economic situation and responsible enough to develop and implement the measures needed to bring us back on to the right path. We did so 20 years ago and we need to do so again."

Williams, who has taken over from Ben Arrindell, said he knew expectations would be great, but that he intended to be his own man.

"I am well aware that there will be times when what I have to say will not please everyone -- whether Government, the Opposition, the trade union movement or for that matter those within the private sector itself. However you have my assurance that whatever I say or do will always be driven by what I truly believe to be in the best interests of Barbadians and Barbados," he pledged.