Public sector must be accountable

Speaking at the Chamber’s 2006 dinner at the Hilton Trinidad, Mouttet said Government and the business sector were aligned in a partnership to build a public service in TT that is "not only transparent and efficient but one that must also be accountable." He observed that while both governments and business professionals in TT know that they will both find themselves out of a job if they fail to perform, this level of accountability does not seem to apply for the public service. Mouttet said this state of affairs cannot be allowed to continue.

"The world of performance without accountability no longer exists. If we hope to achieve developed nation status by 2020 or at any time, then we must first accept this and change it," Mouttet declared.

Prime Minister Patrick Manning assured Mouttet that Government is moving aggressively to reform the public service so that it can serve the population with the efficiency, transparency and accountability he referred to. Noting similar exercises in Dubai and Singapore and that neither nation is regarded as a democracy similar to TT, Manning said the trick which this country has to pull is to achieve public service reform while ensuring that the fundamental rights of citizens enshrined in the Constitution are not infringed upon.

Mouttet also indicated that while the nation remains concerned about crime, progress is being made in tackling this problem and TT still has much to be thankful for. Recalling that it was under PNM administrations that bold steps such as freeing the foreign exchange market, floating the TT dollar and restructuring Caroni (1975) Ltd, Mouttet said all of these cases demonstrated that doing the right thing often involved taking actions that were risky and at times unpopular.

"These were bold initiatives and this is exactly what is required if we are to reform our public service, make them efficient and accountable," he added.