Acting Prime Minister and Attorney General Aiyaz Sayed‑Khaiyum has revealed that he has complained to the Chairman of the Public Service Commission about a few Permanent Secretaries.
While speaking to civil servants in a roadshow in Suva, Sayed‑Khaiyum also confirmed that some of the Permanent Secretaries have been put on notice on their lack of performance.
An employee of the Health Ministry had raised questions in the roadshow on why her contract kept getting extended, and while that kept happening she did not get any annual leave which has kept her away from her family for quite some time.
She highlighted that her contract had expired in March this year and since then her contract kept getting extended without any explanation or confirmation, while another extension had been made till December this year.
Sayed‑Khaiyum said he is sorry she has to go through that, and said it was the Ministry, the Permanent Secretary, the Directors and HR that were responsible.
He says the Permanent Secretary should be held accountable for the complaints by the employees of the Ministry.
Sayed‑Khaiyum says the Ministry of Health is doing their own thing and he thinks they have no respect for the people they have employed.
He says that’s a very sad thing and they try and show a level of authority without actually deserving that authority and respect.
The Acting Prime Minister says for a government that wants to bring about normality and reforms, they find that a lot of the old people within the system, are not moving with the times and they actually want to hold it back .
He apologized to the employee and said he will try and fix it up.
