President, Harmon engage Permanent Secretaries

– discuss strategic plan for Ministries, green economy

President David Granger and Minister of State Joseph Harmon on Thursday met with the permanent secretaries (PS) of the various ministries to discuss a number of issues, including ensuring that their work is in line with the policies of the government, a statement from the Ministry of the Presidency (MoTP) said.
The meeting was held at the MoTP.
The statement said both the President and Minister called for meetings of this nature to become a monthly feature, so that public officers can communicate and interact more, exchange ideas and sort out differences that will arise from time to time.
President Grange, according to the MoTP statement, said that the position of permanent secretary is the pinnacle of the professional career of a public servant and, as such, his government will ensure that the conditions under which they function are as close as possible to ideal and that there is a high level of satisfaction and commitment among them.
He explained that like law and medicine, public service is a profession that requires a high level of competency and professionalism.
“Ministers may change, but permanent secretaries are meant to be permanent…to run a ministry continuously for a long period of time, every day and whoever the minister is, the permanent secretary must be able to discharge his/her function in an efficient manner but they cannot do that unless they are educated,” President Granger said.
Similar sentiments were expressed by Minister Harmon, who emphasised that permanent secretaries have a critical role to play in the functioning of ministries. He informed the permanent secretaries that the President will soon introduce a draft strategic plan for the various ministries, which outlines a broad framework within which each ministry will function and what they should focus on.
This draft plan also highlights the government’s green agenda. Minister Harmon said that, “the first and foremost responsibility of every government ministry is to push that green agenda.”