Public administration saving $12M by putting ministries in Waterfront Towers

The Ministry of Public administration is saving the Trinidad and Tobago taxpayer more than $12 million annually in rent for public buildings by relocating key government ministries from rental properties to government's Waterfront towers.

Public Administration Minister Nan Ramgoolam disclosed this on Wednesday at the Trinidad Hilton when she launched her ministry's Green Paper on transforming the Trinidad and Tobago public service through renewal and modernisation.

The project is aimed at making the public service better equipped to meet the needs of the public.

Ramgoolam said in the past year her ministry has provided offices for five ministries in the towers, thereby saving millions of dollars which would have gone into paying rent. She said there are plans also to move other departments into the government campus.

Speaking about the transformation process, the minister said it must be a continuous exercise. "Our emphasis is therefore on reinvigorating the service, igniting minds, developing competencies and introducing new systems and approaches, which would foster enhanced performance and service delivery."

She noted that the transformation would be in six key areas:

• strengthening the centre of government
• human resource management
• leadership and management development
• service delivery
• property/facilities management
• information and communication technology 

She said the Green Paper is part of a consultative process that requires inputs from citizens. 

"Your feedback is invaluable to this proces and will inform subsequent versions, which will be taken to parliament...we will then develop a systems approach to the implementation of a detailed plan for addressing all the issues identified," she said.

The minister said as an immediate step to improving the sector she is encouraging all ministries to acknowledge all correspondence from citizens within a reasonable time frame. She also said she would work with her cabinet colleagues to redeploy staff so that services are available to the public throughout the day.

Ramgolam urged the public to serve as the "watchdogs" of the system and demand excellent service at all times. She said she would welcome reports from citizens on their experiences where they did not get the desired level of services.

"We will be establishing a hotline which citizens can call to report cases of poor service as well as to highlight excellent service by public officers," she said. The Minister added, "An electronic version will also be set up through which similar feedback can be provided on the ministry's website."