Processes, Systems Dictate Quality Of Services: Minister Seruiratu
Implementation of Costed Operational Plan (COP) will measure and monitor efficiency and effectiveness of programmes.
The Agriculture Ministry is all geared up to go to the next level through their development programmes.
The Ministry of Agriculture, Rural and Maritime Development and National Disaster Development intends to implement Costed Operational Plan (COP) to measure and monitor how efficient and effective their programmes are.
Minister for Agriculture, Rural and Maritime Development and National Disaster Inia Seruiratu expressed his sincere appreciation to the COP management for organising their two-day workshop specifically for discussing its implementation processes and uses. The workshop will set a platform for finalising their strategic direction and key targets for the upcoming fiscal year while considering their five-year strategic plan. “The COP process will ensure that we have a standard framework to measure and monitor how efficient and effective we are implementing our programmes,” Mr Seruiratu said.
“Our processes and systems dictate the quality of our services to our customers and the impact of the sector.
“If our system is weak we will be late and not meet the planting season. We will not meet our production target. If there are gaps in our processes, we will do anything and everything.
“For the next two days, let’s focus and discuss at length on how best we can successfully achieve our outputs and outcomes, aligned to the Ministry’s Strategic Priorities, which is dovetailed with the Budget given to us for 20182019 financial year.”
In addition, he said the current Annual Corporate Plan (ACP) would now be referred to as the Costed Operation Plan (COP).
“As we proceed to the next financial year, we should have a clear understanding of each programme and activities that we will undertake and how much of our allocated budget is assigned to those activities/ programmes,” Mr Seruiratu said.
“These must be changed and I’ve briefed the Ministry of Agriculture Permanent Secretary David Kolitagane that COP management has spent a good amount of time reviewing their SOPs and processes that they would be improving.”
For the upcoming financial year (2018/19), the ministry’s allocated budget is $96.8million of which $37.8m is for operating expenses and $55 million for capital expenditure.
This is an increase of $10.5m (12 per cent from the $86.3m allocation of 2017/18.
In addition to this budget, the ministry is also allocated $9.2m in donor funding (aid in kind) and a further $2m to develop the Goat Meat Industry and establish Brucellosis - Free Farms. Minister Seruiratu said in total, the ministry had been allocated a record amount of $108million for the 2018/19 financial year and that was a clear indication of Government’s commitment towards the agriculture sector.
The 2017 Population and Housing Census recorded 107,568 households for Crops and 31,387 households for livestock.
These statistics clearly indicate to Government the size of budget needed by the ministry to sufficiently provide services to our Farming communities.
“We must therefore ensure that we design a plan that should enable us to fully implement our programmes for maximum impact and maximum benefit,” he said.
Strategic Priorities were under their 2018/19 COP and their five strategic priorities are as follows:
Food & Nutrition Security, Sustainable, Agriculture Livelihoods & Poverty Alleviation, Climate Risk, Resilience & Sustainable Land Management, Commercial Agriculture Development; and Quality Public Service Performance and Service Delivery.
“These priorities require effective management and execution of programmes through firm leadership, good governance, performance monitoring, commitments, accountability, honesty and transparency,” Minister Seruiratu said. “This plan needs to be communicated to each and every staff member of the ministry through the Divisional Business Plan and their Individual Work Plan. “This is to enable them to appreciate and understand their roles and responsibilities on how they are expected to carry out their duties to successfully achieve our overall targets.” “These planned targets need more men-power in order to achieve. “Therefore, with the new Government reform process, we have embarked on our restructure that ensures the improvement of our current recruitment process and the positioning of right people at their right place and address their welfare by remunerating them fairly.”
“I believe that by doing so, we are empowering them to fully commit themselves to the job at hand, we have increased your pay to market rate through a proper job evaluation exercise.
“We have increased key allowances like over time from $9 to $20 also we have reduced tax burden to all lower income bands and putting more cash to your bank and FNPF accounts.” He said they would be rewarded if they delivered through their PMS policy and guideline.
And they would be rewarded by Government if they delivered consistently and performed at exceptional levels.
“These are things we normally see only with private sector businesses and corporations because the reality is that it is now with Government,” Mr Seruiratu said.
“It is now happening at the Ministry of Agriculture so there is no more excuse for poor or non-performance.”