PUBLIC SERVANTS MAY GET SALARY INCREMENT – PRESIDENT KHAMA Should the economy improve in the next few months, government will consider increasing public officers’ salaries to add to the four per cent increment which effected in April this year. President Lt Gen. Seretse Khama Ian Khama said this at a meeting with public officers at Nata Senior Secondary School on June 5. President Khama noted that the Public Service Act had brought along some problems, as prior to it, government increased salaries on the basis of salary reviews. President Khama emphasised that since 2008, government was forced to defer many development projects due to the global recession, which hit the world’s economies. He said while the economic climate was slowly improving, it did not mean that government could increase salaries as per the demand by some. “A demand of 16 per cent is unattainable despite the improving economy, but with time, considering the pace at which it will improve, we shall make salary increments,” he said. President Khama further said because of issues surrounding the Bargaining Council, he decided to have meetings with the public officers so that they could voice out issues, which government could find a way to address. He noted that it was through such meetings that, in 2012, they decided to introduce the recession allowance for salary scales from C4 scale and below. On issues such as back log of accommodation and shortage of transport as raised by the public officers, the President explained that since 2008, government had not bought any new vehicles. The President however said as at the end of last year and the beginning of the new financial year, they had started purchasing some. He said with the new arrangement to outsource the servicing and maintenance of government vehicles, they believed there would be improvement on the transport issue. President Khama said it had come to their attention that some government drivers abused and neglected vehicles, which added to the need of constant maintenance as well as boarding of vehicles. He advised that proper care should be exercised at all times for government vehicles or else there will be serious consequences. On shortage of accommodation, the President said he recently asked Botswana Confederation of Commerce Industry and Manpower (BOCCIM) to come up with programmes where financial institutions could assist government in the construction of houses for Batswana together with the public service and repayment for such arrangement be done over a period of almost 20 years. In addition, he noted that progression was no longer going to be based on qualification only, as it had been the case with those with certificates going as far as C2 while those with diploma ending at D3. He said capabilities and work performance were also going to be some factors considered for progression. For his part, the director of the Directorate of Public Service Management, Mr Carter Morupisi urged district commissioners (DCs) and their subordinates to take their responsibilities seriously. He noted that during the President’s many kgotla meetings, it had come out that certain departments were always singled out not to be servicing people as per their mandate. This, Mr Morupisi said, was a matter of concern and raised questions regarding the coordination and supervision duties of DCs. He tasked them to address people’s concerns by holding regular kgotla meetings across the constituencies. (BOPA)
Posted on: Mon, 09 Jun 2014 07:27:27 +0000