BAHAMAS
The head of the Bahamas’ Organisation for Responsible Governance says the Government’s planned $B130 million ($A193 million) investment in the Public Service would be a waste of money unless the correct checks and balances were put in place.
Robert Myers (pictured) warned the Government would simply repeat past practices of throwing money at problems unless it developed performance indicators to track whether its spending was translating into improved public services delivery.
Mr Myers said costs were already “way too high for the service we are getting” and effectively represented a double whammy.
“This expenditure will only add to an already horribly concerning fiscal deficit produced by Hurricane Dorian without producing the returns desired by the Government or Bahamian taxpayers,” Mr Myers said.
“The Bahamas will soon be confronted with a choice between taking cutbacks and pain now or waiting for this to be imposed by the likes of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).”
He said the projected 4.4 percentage point increase in the Government’s direct debt-to-GDP ratio this fiscal year, estimated to close at 64.4 per cent, “screams we’re going in the wrong direction”.
Mr Myers noted that of the $B30 million ($A44.6 million) the Government had set aside to spend on the Public Service this fiscal year, $B23 million ($A34 million)had already been spent on the one-off lump sum payment that Public Servants received before Christmas.
“The productivity, accountability levels and efficiency levels in the public sector are appalling, and the service provided to the public is appalling,” he said.
“At what point is the public sector going to be accountable to the people it serves? You’re spending our money, so it would be nice to understand what you’re spending it on.”
Nassau, 13 February 2020
