Tough words from the new Jamaican Prime Minister for her colleagues

TIMES INT'L

Dear Editor,

I was impressed with the manner in which the new Jamaican Prime Minister, Portia Simpson Miller commenced her tenure as head of government. After securing victory at the most recent elections, she started the ball rolling and from the way it looked she meant business.

The prime minister had some very tough words for her cabinet colleagues and I am sure that those statements served as a sound warning to those who just take their portfolios for granted. Speaking at the swearing in of the ministers of the new government last week, the prime minister described the Cabinet as a blend of “youth and experience”. She explained that, at the executive level, her administration is looking at succession planning, and has placed some of the elected young persons to understudy senior, more experienced colleagues. This is certainly the way to go.

The prime minister said that this was a continuous process and the country should expect, over time, other young members to receive similar exposure, but warned that “those who get this opportunity must understand that performance is the key”.

“I have a large team that is not involved in the present executive, and they are sitting right there in the wings, waiting and watching. This is a warning to the members who are here today,” she said.

This is certainly the kind of approach we need in Guyana, where officials are held accountable for their actions and when they are found not to be performing to satisfactory levels they should make way for others.

However, this tough approach should not only be applied to government, it should be applied to all public and private sector agencies. Perhaps a good place to start is the Georgetown Mayor and City Council where it is well established that for many years, some of the officers, including the mayor have been performing below par, yet they are allowed to hold on to their offices. This is unacceptable in most other places.

Yours truly,

Mahendra Singh

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