Government system crippled by wantok system

BY BEN BILUA, https://theislandsun.com.sb/,
Milton Ragaruma –

WANTOK System (or nepotism) has invaded the government system and is identified as a major influential driver of poor services.

Solomon Islands Public Service Satisfaction Survey Report, which was launched in 2016 and brought to light again during the Government Ministry leaders forum yesterday, shows wantok system topping the graph on issues affecting service delivery.

Respondents to the survey highlighted, among other things, the following as key impediments to better service delivery: wantok system (94 percent), acceptance of bribe/imposing of a commission (92 percent), lack of accountability (90 percent), lack of leadership (89 percent), and lack of strategic forethought and planning (90 percent).

The report says these lead to weak governance and leadership, ineffective organisations and business processes, weak communications process, staff lacking required competency, delays in service provision, bad staff work ethics, poor customer service, inadequate or mismatch of resources relative to service demands, lack of infrastructure, poor quality service and the negative effects of our wantok systems.

The Public Service Commission survey report – Solomon Islands Public Service Satisfaction Survey also identified a number of issues that suggest ministries and agencies may not be well positioned to be responsive to the needs of the people in the country.

The report can be substantiated by the findings of the PSC survey report 2016 as well as reports especially those series RAMSI people survey reports.

Responding to the survey, the Democratic Coalition for Change Government (DCCG) instructed policy secretaries to undertake major review of all ministries with the objective of establishing relevance in terms of their effectiveness in pursuing national development objectives and in the setting of the country.

In 2016 the Cabinet granted its approval that ministries, in collaboration with MPs, must undertake functional reviews, this is basically to ascertain their effectiveness in the implementation of the DCCG policy.

At the moment the government is pushing to review, restructure and reorganise the public service to ensure effective and efficient service delivery of goods and services.

Evidence of the critical issue have been displayed during the two-day Government Ministry Leaders forum which ends yesterday.

At the political level, the DCCG government realised that inefficiency in public service delivery is a recurring issue that must be addressed.

This instruction could mean that SIG ministries and agencies, as they are currently structured and organised, are becoming irrelevant to meet the needs and demands of our citizens in the 21st century.

Solomon Island Government (SIG) machinery constitute a total of 23 ministries coordinated under the OPMC, six agencies with a total workforce of 7942 to implement Government policy and touch lives of our people.

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