The transformation of the public sector will require the full support of the private sector, CEO of the Bahamas Chamber of Commerce and Employers' Confederation (BCCEC) Edison Sumner said yesterday at the launch of the Public Financial Management and Performance Monitoring Reform Project, a public sector transformation initiative, adding that the private sector will not always agree with the public sector and will not ignore public sector inefficiencies.
Sumner said that while public-private partnership (PPP), and public-private dialogue (PPD) are effective tools to achieve public sector reform, they in no way mean the private sector will bow to the whims of the public sector.
"To be effective, public sector transformation requires the full support of the private sector since, in large measure, it is the private sector and citizens at large who are most impacted by the work of the public sector," he said.
"Let me stress, however, that having a PPP or PPD does not mean that the private sector will agree to everything the public sector does, and does not mean inefficiencies in the system will be ignored once identified.
"On the other hand, however, the private sector, and more specifically the Chamber, will not identify inefficiencies and challenges without offering solutions to correct those challenges. Further, when considering public sector transformation we must also identify ways to improve the systems within which we operate -- those that make life easier for both public servants as well as those they serve."
Sumner said an example of government working to effect change in the relationship between the public and private sectors is the "conversion of all government services to electronic portals and single window processes" to streamline services and reduce wait times.
The public sector transformation initiative was provided with financial and technical support from the Inter-American Development Bank.
Sumner said the government will have to look at the public service and make a determination in regard to its employees; some have been left in limbo within the system.
"In the work of the National Development Plan, it was determined that nearly 40 percent of all persons working in the public sector were still considered temporary, meaning they are non-permanent and non-pensionable employees, clerical, or miscellaneous," he said.
"The question becomes: is it possible to streamline the public sector? Is it possible to downsize to those who are permanent and pensionable? Or should we make temporary employees permanent?"
He said it is unfair to have these individuals continue in the system without proper status.
He also called for the "distribution of authority" in order to ensure that decisions can be made and procedures carried out with as little bureaucracy as possible.

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