‘A Team’ appointment

Tukai Lagonilakeba, Nadi

The Government armchair critic, Dan Urai, had raised his concern on March 28.

Again, this time, contradicting himself on a baseless fact to which he is good at just so to prove his inability to appreciate the developments with its truth of which he is oblivion to what is positively happening daily around him. For the information of Urai, Fiji’s ANZ Bank chief executive officer (CEO) is the chairperson of our Public Service Commission (PSC) and through him an overseas company was specifically appointed and tasked by Government to oversee the interview process from those applicants who had registered their interests for all the PS (Permanent Secretary) positions as advertised in our local media. All those former Permanent Secretary terms were to expire early March 2016 and Government saw it fit to appoint an independent consultant panel to conduct and oversee independently the interviews and recommend to the PSC the best most suitable highly qualified candidates. Accordingly the PSC chairman will then present their recommendations to the Minister for Public Service who will in turn make known the PS appointments to Cabinet for their endorsement which is normal government business. For the sake of transparency, past and current governments including that of the 1999 Senior Chaudhry-led Labour government to which Dan was a critical part of will from time to time appoint such independent consultants to carry out specific tasks in the nation’s best interests. Almost all current Permanent Secretaries are new appointments to their respective Government ministry’s but are certainly the best most highly qualified thus the tag ‘A Team’, and why not. I’m personally saddened by the fact that Dan Urai did not personally submit his interest for the same as he would have been subjected to such high level scrutiny by those specialist panels of judges whereby he can personally appreciate why he will not qualify in such circumstance.