The govt.’s bureaucracy is expanding
Oct 10, 2016 , http://www.kaieteurnewsonline....ucracy-is-expanding/
Government should not be acquiring any properties. It should be divesting itself of properties, as it did during the heyday of the privatization when state assets were disposed of by the government.
At one time, the State in Guyana owned and controlled more than 80% of the economy, including its commanding heights, the sugar and bauxite industry. The rice industry was in private hands but the mills eventually came under state control and at one stage all rice to be exported had to be sold to the government.
The state also had a big presence in the commercial sector with a number of companies, Guyana Stores, GNTC etc. being owned and operated by the government. The state also was involved in the financial sector with banks, insurance and mortgage companies being owned and operated by the state.
The state ran bankrupt. It was forced to shed ownership of state companies. This led to mass privatization with the state retaining an interest only in a few companies, including GUYOIL and the Guyana National Shipping Corporation.
The government in 1991 embarked on an administrative rationalization of the public bureaucracy. It reduced the number of ministries which effectively shrunk the size of government further. Even though the size of the bureaucracy has since expanded, the state has continued to divest itself of assets, including buildings.
Governments have always been resistant to shrinking the size of the bureaucracy. They have resisted this because it is not easy to lay off workers in the process. It is politically unpalatable especially since the bureaucracy has been known to be used to create jobs for supporters of the government.
Calling on a government to reduce the number of its ministries is like asking a man amputate his legs. The only way to force governments to reduce their public service payrolls is to begin by reducing the number of buildings. By limiting the number to buildings, government bureaucracy cannot expand and is forced to contract its numbers.
It now seems as if the APNU+AFC is hell bent on expanding the bureaucracy. There is demand for more space and in order to ensure that expansion is convenient the government is going the controversial route of compulsory acquiring properties with the intention of extending the offices of certain ministries or establishing new offices.
This is a real danger in Guyana. Instead of shrinking, the public bureaucracy is becoming larger. Instead of fewer offices, we will soon be saddled with more government buildings, more staff, more overheads, more expenses and, as Guyanese like to say, less work.
The government does not need to have more buildings. It needs to have less. It does not need to be acquiring private property against the wishes of its owners. It does not need to acquire any new buildings.
It needs to be divesting itself of certain buildings. The size of government needs to be smaller, not larger. The larger the government, the higher will be the cost of the works that it is undertaking.
All over the world, companies are trying to reduce overheads associated with providing office space for workers. More and more companies are having employees work from home. This reduces the cost to the company. They do not have to provide office space, pay for telephone calls, electricity and utility staff such as security and cleaners. Major corporations have cut back on office space and introducing flexibility in the working conditions of employees.
We in Guyana are going in the opposite direction. We are employing more persons and having to find office space for them. This is one of the reasons why the government has to be looking to acquire private property against the wishes of the owners of these properties. Not only is the bureaucracy expanding but the privileges of office – benefits- are being increased.
We have learnt nothing from the expansion of the bureaucracy in the 1970s. That expansion led to crash with thousands of workers having to be sent home when the government could no longer afford the public sector wage bill.
During the debate of the first Budget of the new government, analysts pointed out that the number of government employees seemed to have increased. The government denied this and gave an unconvincing explanation. Well, if the number of government employees has not increased why is the government looking to acquire private property for public purposes, in the city?