KINGSTON, Jamaica — Prime Minister Andrew Holness has suggested that announcing the introduction of paternity leave for fathers, as well as an extension of maternity leave for mothers, shows his government’s interest in how civil servants live.

“Right now the Minister of Finance and the Public Service is engaged with our partners — the unions — in addressing the remuneration issues, and to acknowledge that remuneration is not just about cash: Remuneration is also about how we live and work,” he told Wednesday’s launch of the new Service Excellence Policy (SEP).

“We are improving how workers are able to live and work, and also the standards that we require of them, in terms of performance and productivity, to serve the public of which they are a part, and in which the very public sector workers (also) complain,” he told the audience, noting a recent call from a civil servant complaining about the performance of public servants in hospitals.

“I want the public to know that the government is not blind to this. But, it is not the government’s only role to speak (out) from a bully pulpit. To say you must, you must…The important role of government is to develop the policy, which is what we are doing, today,” Holness said.

He said that a comprehensive policy, broken down into targets assigned to the leaders, with measurable outcomes and results, with a process to evaluate and monitor, and to take the evaluation and feedback to address division, remission and to change targets is an ongoing process.

“So, we have developed that today, and we are handing it over, essentially, to the ministries, departments and agencies (of government). And my job today is to say to the heads of who are gathered here, that this is now the critical mission of the government, which is also connected to the grand transformation of the public sector,” he stated.

“I hope that I would have made the connection, and those who are looking to crawl from out of their critical holes to make nonsensical arguments would just go back into them and don’t distract the nation from the critical things that we have to do here,” Holness concluded.

The government says that the goal of the new policy is to create a culture, across the public sector, which drives the delivery of services that meet and, possibly, exceeds citizens’ expectations. Every ministry now has a Customer Service Improvement Team charged with developing an improvement customer service programme.

It is also expected to aid in Jamaica achieving the Vision 2030 Development Goals, to “live, work and raise families and do business”.

Balford Henry