Progressive Labour Party MP Dennis Lister warned last night that the privatisation and outsourcing recommended in the SAGE Commission’s report will directly impact 1,700 to 2,000 Government workers.

In what he described as the physical part of government services, he said, at the PLP’s second Town Hall meeting on the SAGE Commission, that the report calls for privatisation in seven areas.

Topping the list, said Mr Lister, was airport operations, followed by civil aviation, maritime administration, the employees responsible for highways, public lands and buildings, waste management and water sewage.

The report also recommends outsourcing in 11 different departments which, if implemented, Mr Lister claimed would directly affect an estimated 251 prison officers, if the Department of Corrections was outsourced. Another 258 public transportation employees would also be impacted by outsourcing.

In the Department of Marine and Ports he said there were another 174 employees with another 164 in the Parks Department alone.

“But, if you look over the areas affected, there are only about three areas that are profitable,” said Mr Lister

“When you go through the revenue and expenditure books you will find there are only about four areas that even produce revenue.

“In most countries people recognise that there are a lot of public services provided that aren’t really making revenue. They are there to provide services for the people as a result of the taxes you pay as citizens of that country.”

He stressed that although the report recommends the privatisation of entire government departments including the Department Youth, Sport and Recreation, the aim was to gauge public feedback.

“These are departments that affect individuals, some of you in this room even work in some of these departments,” he said.

An estimated 150 people attended the second of three meetings hosted by the PLP last night at Dalton E Tucker Primary School in Southampton.

Mr Lister was joined by MPs Michael Scott and Kim Wilson. The meeting was moderated by Senator Marc Daniels.

The third meeting will be held tonight at St George’s Cricket Club at 7.30pm.