Govt to address lack of guidelines for appointments – President  

Review of retirement policy

President David Granger has underscored the importance of crafting clear and precise guidelines for the appointment and duration of service of members, as Government moves to conduct a general review of all the State authorities, Boards and Commissions.

According to the Ministry of the Presidency on Thursday, the Head of State

pointed out that the Government recognised that these State entities play an important role in the governance of the country and provision of services to the Guyanese people, hence, it is imperative that clear guidelines of service are established.

“It is impossible to function as a government without these authorities, agencies, Boards and Commissions. The problem is that there is no handbook. There is no guideline. We know that these agencies and authorities have been established by law… We want to ensure that all of the (entities) are able to function, to deliver all of their services efficiently to the public, so the Administration is now engaging in a review, but we have discovered that there are no terms and conditions for the appointees, particularly the chairperson of the Boards,” the President said.

He went on to say that the terms and conditions of these appointments could not be left open ended and must be clearly laid out. The President noted that public servants have a stipulated time to retire and members of these State bodies should be bounded by the same as well. President Granger further asserted that the function of these State entities could not be underestimated and it was, therefore, incumbent on the Government to ensure that the systems were put in place not only for efficient management, but to ensure that the guidelines for the length of service and retirement were documented.

“There is no hard and fast rule about how a person would be selected and this has led to the present dilemma that people do not know how long they are expected to serve and it is not clear how some persons were appointed. Although we don’t have a problem with those who were appointed, the time has come because of age and service qualifications for them to demit. There has to be an end and it just can’t go on forever,” he said.

He explained that Governments have traditionally relied on professionals, particularly persons from the Judiciary, since they are expected to bring with them the qualities of independence, impartiality and integrity. However, these professionals mostly retire at 65 years and it is reasonable for them to serve another decade until they are 75 or 80, the President said. Moreover, Government had outlined that this move to review the appointments at State agencies, Boards and Commissions was also a means of creating an atmosphere for younger and qualified candidates to have an opportunity to serve in those capacities.

“We want to ensure that there is balance, particularly gender balance and we want to ensure that persons appointed are in fact qualified, that they have the expertise, education and experience and this will enable Guyanese people to get the best quality of service from these authorities and agencies.  So, this is what we are doing and I am very confident that in the end the public would be better served by these changes,” President Granger posited.

Government’s announcement of a review of its retirement policy comes on the heels of criticisms received following an executive decision to sack Chairman of the Police Complaints Authority (PCA), retired Justice Cecil Kennard, given his age. The former Chancellor was initially given 36 hours to vacate office, but this was extended until the end of February.

Reasons unclear

However, Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo on Thursday outlined that Government’s reason for sacking Justice Kennard was baffling since they have much older persons appointed at the helm of more weighty State bodies that should have been let go of first. One such person he named is Dr Clive Thomas, who currently chairs the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) and also heads the State Assets Recovery Agency (SARA).

“I don’t have anything against (older) people once they can perform at that age, but I’m saying that the President gives these inconsistent answers, because he doesn’t subject himself or allow himself to a challenge like should happen in a democracy,” Jagdeo posited. Meanwhile, there were also much comments about the fate of former Georgetown Mayor, Hamilton Green, who currently heads the Board of Directors of the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA).

However, Minister of State Joseph Harmon on Thursday confirmed at the post-cabinet press briefing that with the life of the CH&PA Board having come to an end, Green, who is over the age of 80, will not be returning on the new board.

“There are younger competent persons and we believe that they ought to be given a chance. It is no disrespect and disregard to the work of these individuals (who held the posts) but we have to provide upward mobility within the system,” Harmon explained.