“Let us stop advertising our permanent secretary and other civil service posts internationally – they should be advertised locally and within our diaspora.”
Those were the words of leader of the United Alliance party, Reuben T Meade, who was addressing leading public sector positions targeted at foreign workers on ZJB Radio on 11 April.
He spoke of the new acting police chief Roje Williams from the Royal Cayman Islands Police Service, who he said he has “absolutely nothing against”.
But he stressed that there is already a “qualified and experienced” superintendent of police in Montserrat.
“Can someone explain the logic of bringing in a superintendent from another service to act as commissioner, when we can’t give our own the opportunity to act?” he asked.
Meade also spoke of the position of permanent secretary in the Ministry of Education which has been advertised as a contract role, he said.
“Why do we need to import a permanent secretary to fill that post? Where does this end?” he questioned.
He referenced the previous acting permanent secretary Lyston Skerritt who was “deemed unacceptable” for the role but has now moved onto a more senior position elsewhere.
Creative solutions
The party leader said the government may argue that the public service is the governor’s responsibility, but added “policy decisions reside with the Cabinet”.
“Cabinet must ensure that policies are put in place to ensure that our residents and nationals are protected for employment purposes at the highest level,” he said.
“Because what we may find happening is that the next permanent secretary who resigns or retires, we may again find that we have to import another person.”
He suggested that while the role is listed as a contracted position, current civil servants should be allowed to fulfil this contract before returning to their jobs.
“We can find creative solutions, so that we [can] say to our locals… you do not have to leave Montserrat and go overseas,” Meade told listeners.
