Civil Servants should declare

EDITORIAL

There have been a number of reports and complaints raised recently with regard to Civil Servants who have other jobs or businesses.

The concern is that in such circumstances at best there could be a serious conflict of interest, but at worst in some circumstances, involvement in the private sector could lead to some forms of corruption.
In some countries members of the Civil Service are prohibited from taking another job, or they are forced to give an open and clear declaration of what work they do or interests they have outside of public service to ensure there is no room for conflicts of interest or perceived dishonesty - which is reported to be prevalent here at present.

The current cost of living in the Cayman Islands is so high these days that many civil servants are finding it very difficult to make ends meet and are forced to take another job just to address the basic needs for themselves and their families.

The accusations of greed in some cases have been exaggerated and many would agree that police, fire-fighters, nurses, teachers and indeed any other civil servant has the right to try and earn a decent living. If their salaries are not meeting their needs because of the country�s high living costs we cannot demand that they do not work outside their public role.

What we can do however, is demand transparency, openness, honesty and integrity of those that have another interest outside their regular job, as trusted servants of the people.

What each Government department needs is an extended Register of Interests, in which Civil Servants openly declare their interests in businesses or the work they do in the private sector.

Presently only those with Legislative Assembly access, including reporters, must register with the Clerk of Assembly their interests.

Aside from gaining permission to take up another job or business government workers must also give full details of the type of work they are doing elsewhere.

This will serve two purposes. Firstly line managers can use the information to help avoid conflicts of interest where possible, but will also serve as a guide if complaints are made against an individual Government worker or if they are accused of any form of corruption regarding their public and private roles.

In many developing nations the problem of low pay, even no pay sometimes for Civil Servants, forces them to take up other jobs, but it has also been the root of much of the bribery and corruption that plagues many of these countries.

We are a first world developed economy with one of the highest GDPs globally, but we may be in danger of forcing our Civil Service into compromising positions because of salaries which are not matching the inflated cost of living such a rich economy as ours has created.

Rents, utilities, food are all very expensive here. Much of that is because of the over - inflated salaries paid by the financial sector.

For those working in the offshore business, life can be very good. Moreover the sector has afforded this country a level of wealth that it could only have dreamed about in the past.

Yet there is a downside, which is, those who are in traditionally low paid positions and in particular those vocational workers such as teachers, nurses and other emergency service roles do not pay enough to allow them to compete fairly in the economy for housing or other resources.

If the Government cannot find ways of increasing salaries, then it must allow its staff to work outside of their Civil Service roles.

It therefore makes good sense to avoid the perception of dishonesty or lack of integrity; there must be strict guidelines and rules for Government workers to disclose their other interests.

To encourage integrity and honesty in our public servants we must ask them to examine their own consciences to ensure that when they are wearing their civil servant hat, that they do not allow their outside interests to cloud their judgement and offer examples of good order.

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Article sourced from

Cayman Net News - Cayman Islan23 January 2006

Civil Servants should declare

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Cayman Net News - Cayman Islan
23 January 2006