One political party is not greater than the other – it is the system
Introduction
It is obvious what is needed in the Turks and Caicos. However, there is so much red tape in getting things done due to the systems we have in place. I believe that to govern effectively and efficiently, there must be systematic changes. I am aware that there have been a significant number of constitutional changes, but more must be done with the systems. Some of the systems are bottlenecks and so I am not convinced that individuals in one political party are greater than the other, or one political party has better ideas than the other. Quite frankly, the ideas are similar, anyone can see what the issues are.
The working of cabinet
The Bank Benchers
There seems to be a disconnect between the cabinet members and the bank benchers. I do not know if it is a system problem or the process in which the Government works. The bank benchers should be briefed about what is going on and personally I think office space should be staffed for, selected and paid by the Parliamentarians which leads to the next point.
Constituency office
Some of the ministers in Government are also member of Parliaments for a constituency. Somehow those in this category must be able to manage their time as a Minister and a Member of the Constituency.
I think local Government should be established throughout the Turks and Caicos and have them run the constituencies. If that is not possible, then a constituency office should be set up on a permanent basis in each constituency where people can meet the representative on a weekly basis so that they can address the needs of the people and make sure they are addressed through the budget and legislative changes.
The Permanent Secretaries have a significant role in Government. They basically run the Department and carry out the policies of the Government, but the members of parliament get blamed for the role of the permanent secretaries.
The Permanent Secretaries are also supposed to be very objective and neutral no matter who the Government of the day is. However, I believe the Ministers should have more say who their right-hand person is. If they are not doing it already, they should also have input on the appraisal performance of the permanent secretaries.
More autonomy
While it is true that Parliamentarians are policy makers, however, the ministers really need more autonomy over their ministry. This can be accomplished by them selecting the PS as mentioned above or they have more hands on in the ministry. At the end of the day, it is the Ministers who are held accountable not the Permanent Secretaries.
I believe if ministers have more autonomy, more will get done because they are under a lot of pressure from the electorate. The PSs do not report to the Ministers so they can take their time to get things done or don’t do anything at all.
The Procurement Process
The procurement process must be improved. I know we need to have a system in place for procurement, but the system needs to change. It is deterrent for many local vendors to the point that some vendors no longer bid on Government tenders. Sometimes you do not hear from procurement until a year later. Furthermore, the local vendors are competing against international vendors and of course the international vendors pricing will be lower so the international vendors will win the bid. International vendors should not be allowed to bid on tenders if there are local vendors who can offer the services and products. International vendors should only be allowed if there is a specialized service or products that are not available locally.
Involvement of the selection of Commissioner of Police
I think our Premier should be directly involved in the selection of the Commissioner of Police. It appears the Governor makes the selection and then advises or seeks approval from the Premier.
A link to vouch concerns and an office day
One of the advantages of being in a small country is that everybody knows everybody. Not too many people in other countries can say they can reach the Premier directly. This can be a good thing and a bad thing. The bad thing is if the Parliamentarians are bug down with phone calls, they will not get much accomplished.
To be more effective, the government should set up a link where people can express their concerns and have a team monitoring the links and then forward to the right ministers. In addition, a day should be set aside each week so that people can meet the ministers.
Conclusion
The last two years in my role at Cable & Wireless, it was so system driven. Anything over 5,000 had to get multiple approvals even though it is already budgeted. Don’t get me wrong, I believe we need systems in place but there needs to be an improvement. The Parliamentarians really cannot do much. I think for them to be effective; they need more control. Otherwise, the parliamentarians and the electorate will become frustrated.