Pruebas realizadas al Manejador

Over the years, the Public Service has employed several attempts to reform the Public Service of Trinidad and Tobago. These initiatives focused on institutional strengthening, streamlining practices, decentralization modernization of performance management systems, financial reform, transformation of Human Resource Management and strategic planning as

vehicles of Public Service modernization. There is general consensus that while much valuable work has been done on analysis of problems most of the initiatives have had limited success. It is not clear, whether those initiatives were guided by the work of any particular theorist. Further, there is not any evidence to indicate that those initiatives included any efforts aimed at legislative reform.

The Public Service Reform initiative programmes in the past had been developed by the Government of Trinidad and Tobago; Peoples National Movement (PNM) at the time, and the Inter-American Development Bank to facilitate the development and implementation of a long-term strategy to reform the Public Service. The programme suggested that Government must improve its effectiveness and efficiency in the provision of goods and services, to allow for greater resource allocation for investment on infrastructure and human development, to increase productivity and competitiveness. This called for holistic, focused and comprehensive reform of the Public Service, including analysis and improvement of governance systems, institutional frameworks, processes, infrastructure and mind-sets. The specific objectives of the Programme were:

 To identify the issues for the transformation of the Public Service;

 To define a suitable, feasible and politically sensitive strategy for the transformation of the Public Service.

 To facilitate the widespread agreement and support necessary to implement such a strategy; and

 To develop basic management instruments and capacity to manage the reform.

These attempts were somewhat different from the previous ones mentioned in chapter one, in that it represented an investment of resources into intensive planning for reform.

‘Enhancement of the quality and delivery of Public Services’ was the overall strategic objective of the reform effort. Accordingly, to meet those objectives general initiatives had been developed to prepare for reform. These initiatives were designed to address Public Service Surveys, Innovation for Service Excellence Award Schemes, Policy Networking Forums, Monitoring and Evaluation Policy, and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Programs to transform the Public Service.

The Government of Trinidad and Tobago, in March 2004, launched its Public Sector Reform Initiation Programme (PSRIP) largely aimed at reforming the Public Service. This PSRIP was developed in conjunction with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) to facilitate the development and implementation of a long-term strategy to reform the Public Service.

This initiative was undertaken as a major prerequisite to the successful achievement of Government’s Strategic Plan; Vision 2020 which was the goal to achieve developed country status by the year 2020. In its Vision 2020 document, the Government at that time the P.N.M indicated that the fundamental development challenges confronting Trinidad and Tobago, as indeed all Caribbean countries, was the need to transform. Further, the ultimate goals of transformation were improvement in the quality of life of all citizens and the positioning of the economy to compete in the global marketplace. The Government stated that transformation therefore must take place both at the level of the society as a whole as well as at the level of the economy. It indicated that the transformation must lead to the evolution among other things of: A society with an effective system of governance particularly in terms of the regulatory framework which must promote harmonious relationships as well as the continuous development of the economy especially its business sector. The Government recognised that in the era of globalization and market liberalisation where trade competition continued to intensify, innovation must be the key driver in business sector development.

It was in this context, and with funds provided by the I.D.B the public sector reform initiation programme was launched aimed at reducing the structural rigidities inherent in the system to prepare the service for reform. In 2008, the Government of Trinidad and Tobago engaged the Service of Adam Smith institute a United Kingdom Firm as the lead consultant;

Adam Smith co-opted the services of other consultants to develop and design a strategy for transformation of the economy and several sectors of the Public Service. This transformation initiative was seen as a prerequisite for achieving Government’s vision for developed nation status by 2020.

Among the objectives for the reform were the rebranding the Public Service to focus on customer service, the modernizing of Human Resource Management and monitoring the implementation of the transformation programmes. The consultant was also expected to draw on past experiences and issues of previous reform initiatives. In his report, outlining the programme to transform the Public Service, the consultant stressed the importance of coordinating and implementing Public Service Reform (PSR) and delineated key principles regarding a programme management approach to Public Service Reform. The consultant also

emphasized the importance of leadership required by the Prime Minister and the Cabinet of Trinidad and Tobago, and the need to take some difficult decisions in order to advance the reform. The question of administrative capacity to co-ordinate the Public Service Reform and the necessity for a close link between that capacity and the Prime Minister and the Cabinet were highlighted. Finally the consultant addressed the role of the Ministry of Public Administration, in relation to the co-ordination of Public Service Reform, the provision of information, advice, training and consultancy services to other Ministries and Departments.

The Ministry was advised to provide specific leadership for specific Public Service Reform projects.