“Mitchell: Comments attributed to Cabinet secretary damning” – The Nassau Guardian

Except from this article; “Shadow Minister of Labour Senator Fred Mitchell said yesterday that comments attributed to the Cabinet Secretary to the Cabinet Camille Johnson that deputy permanent secretaries in the country are ‘extraordinarily weak’ is a ‘damning and shocking statement that cannot be the view of the government.

During the debate in the Senate, Mitchell noted that Minister of Labour Dion Foulkes did not address Johnson’s comments in his presentation.

‘I was hoping, however that he would give some words of comfort to the public servants who heard that the chief of the public service this morning is quoted as saying that they are extraordinarily weak in the public office’, Mitchell said.

‘This is a rather shocking statement.  The IDB reports that the secretary to the Cabinet quotes the secretary to the Cabinet according to the press this morning, as saying that the public service in The Bahamas is extraordinarily weak.”

I liked how this statement moved from the “extraordinarily weak deputy permanent secretaries” to the “extraordinarily weak public service”.

The only damning thing here is that the good senator seems to be offended by the truth.

The question here is does the Senator Fred Mitchell, and chairman of the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) have a valid point or is he just enabling ineptitude and laziness?

About a week ago I questioned the role of the permanent secretary in our government system. I questioned their roles and silence based on the instances of ‘mic-grabbing’, attention seeking Cabinet Ministers, who by all intents and purposes know very little about the ministries that they are in charge of, when compared to the permanent secretary staff.

By their very job description the permanent secretary should be the person responsible for the day-to-day running of the various ministries and should be the ones with the intimate knowledge of what is going on; with the actual minister having a board understanding.  These [the PS’s] should be the persons sought out by the media when something is happening within a ministry or clarification is being sought.

I criticized some permanent secretaries for their lack of visibility and as the deputies are being criticized here, as they should be the second in command, I question Senator Mitchell who seems to differ in opinion as he seeks to enable the permanent secretary and their deputies in being ineffective at their roles; roles which are quite important and powerful.

This cannot continue if the country is to truly progress.

END