Civil Service questions

May 14, 2009

Dear Sir,

The controversy surrounding the Head of the Civil Service Mr. Kenneth Dill and comments made by him during his recent speech to Hamilton Rotary have caused me concern, thus I have been prompted to do a bit of research.

Mr. Dill stated that qualified and experienced Bermudians are in short supply (I believe he was referring to the Civil Service). Certainly all applicants have to produce their curriculum vitae before they are selected. Has it not been past practice for the recruitment and selection team to recruit or promote the best and the brightest?

Mr. Dill mentioned a recent initiative to promote leadership within the civil service, which involved 15 high-ranking civil servants undergoing an "arduous" training programme to prepare them for even higher positions. If there is a short supply of qualified and experienced Bermudians as stated by Mr. Dill, why has there been a practice of overlooking the qualified Bermudians with years of experience, while those with less qualifications or experience have been recruited? Would it not have made better sense to have afforded the qualified and experienced applicants, who were unsuccessful in their attempts for advancement, the equal opportunity of being trained for the positions in advance of applying for them? I guess that's a question for those responsible for recruitment and selection.

Regarding Mr. Dill's clarion call of "leadership" as opposed to "bossmanship", training in that respect is crucial. It's good to see that Mr. Dill accepts that there are some "bossy" leaders and is prepared to address the problem.

In December 2005, according to a Royal Gazette article, a former Government administrator with over 30 years service made an allegation that the Civil Service is riddled with incompetence and insubordination. Another unnamed source in that same article stated that, "Since 1998, there has been a number of people who have been hired or promoted who just don't have the necessary level experience to do the job." The unnamed source has certainly hit the nail on the head ... at least that's the impression I get after listening to Mr. Dill's speech to the Hamilton Rotarians.

Back in August 2006 when Mr. Kenneth Dill was the Assistant Cabinet Secretary, Mr. Dill spoke at a public forum which had the theme, "Transforming governance and the public sector". He stated that civil servants must change their mindset from one in which they believe they cannot be fired, to one in which they are held accountable. The Civil Service executive committee was holding weekly meetings and was discussing the need for a culture of accountability at that time. Mr. Dill stressed to Bermudians, the importance of realising that the Civil Service is meant to serve them, and if something is wrong, tell someone.

General Secretary of the Bermuda Public Services Union, Mr. Edward Ball Jr. expressed a similar sentiment in July 2002 when he stated that much of the time people refused to be held accountable for getting things wrong, and that the values of humility and honesty are rare commodities. He was referring to both managers and workers who had "fabricated events" to suit personal agendas in reporting on grievances. Mr. Ball may have forgotten that he also commented that, "Some citizens are very fearful to challenge controversial issues and are actually scared of reprisals."

I wonder why he found it necessary to instruct a lawyer to send me a letter for allegedly making defamatory statements against the BPSU and him in various publications of the Mid Ocean News. I'm sorry that they found my honest opinion to be offensive.

In June last year, Mr. Ed Ball Jr. urged all members of the service to follow clearly defined complaints procedures if they felt their position was being undermined. He made reference to the Dignity at Work document, which he stated has the blessings of the majority of unions who had input in the drafting. That process is supposed to allow a "neutral person" to hear a case and to make a recommendation to correct a wrong, or rule that there is no case. The key word here is "neutral".

Mr. Ball reminded civil servants that if they feel there is a possible misuse of power by a Minister or a senior civil servant, they must report the alleged infraction to the Union or their Permanent Secretary or the Head of the Civil Service so that a complete investigation can take place. Mr. Ball called it, "find the strength of your convictions to do the right thing without fear". He also stressed that the matter cannot be investigated if the civil servant has not reported the alleged wrongdoing.

What happened to LeYoni Junos after she attempted to do the right thing by complaining about alleged wrongdoings?

Now that it should be clear to Mr. Dill and Mr. Ball that reprisal acts do occur in the Civil Service, it will be quite interesting to see just how similar complaints are handled in the future.

JENNIFER CAINES

Devonshire

Stop these strikes

May 14, 2009

Dear Sir,

Please allow me the space in your paper to express my disgust with the current decision of the Works and Engineering staff to down their tools.

Please don't get me wrong. I support unions and their purposes; however I believe the BIU has it wrong. Members of the BIU can't call a strike for everything they don't agree with. People get fired all over the world for not following company rules. If it goes against the company policy for a refuse driver to allow another worker to drive the truck, then disciplinary action should be taken. Plain and simple it shouldn't have been done and that is the consequence.

Now "Joe Public" is left to suffer with the mounds of garbage which are building outside our homes and lining our streets it's not right.

This reminds me of the "drunk" ferry pilot. The driver was drunk and should have lost his job. However, he was reinstated because the BIU members went on strike; only in Bermuda is a blind eye turned towards negligence. When is the nonsense going to end? When are the BIU members going to realise that a strike can't be called every time someone is sacked?

Wake up guys!!

OPINIONATED

Southampton