It was, at first sight, refreshing to take in the upbeat vision of the new Head of the Malta Civil Service, Dr Godwin Grima, as reflected in a full page interview in another section of the Press. Dr Grima, who was appointed Principal Permanent Secretary, succeeding his namesake J.R. Grima at the beginning of this year, is determined to make the Maltese civil service “more efficient in the shortest time possible”.

He is not short of formulas… and he is well aware of the shortcomings of the Civil Service.

Dr Grima believes that “the public sector and service, crammed with over 44,000 workers, has the potential to make a change. The problem lies in changing the modus operandi of staff unfamiliar with the concept of flexibility,” he affirms.

“For example, we shouldn’t be reacting to EU policy, but should make EU policy. I want to see initiatives being taken,” he insists.

Brave language

This is brave language, coming as it does from the engine room at the Auberge de Castille. There will be many who will wish Dr Grima more power to his elbow, and who will look forward with anticipation to the results.

Before his latest appointment, Dr Grima served as Permanent Secretary at the Justice and Home Affairs Ministry and in the Office of the Prime Minister. He is therefore aware of the strengths and weaknesses of the Maltese Civil Service. And he is as blunt as he is forthcoming about the weaknesses.

“We have people who are arrogant and think they are demigods. I fear there are people who want to go their own way and that’s unacceptable,” he thunders.

“We need people with energy, with backbone, and who know what their department really needs in the light of changing circumstances”

“The front offices are still not up to scratch. It is unacceptable that people are routed from one department to another. We need accountability and coordination and transparency”

Dr Grima has the answer. “We will adopt a zero tolerance attitude to inefficiency…” “We need to bend rules and our staff needs to take risks, to respond to the needs of today,” he says.

Wake-up call

By all local standards, this is a stimulating wake up call that lays bare and belies all the high-faulting claims extolling the performance of the Malta Civil Service in the preceding years.

Many performance and quality service claims now sound hollow and artificial. The “cowboys” are still there.

The organisational structures and management systems that were presumed to have been put in place after the costly Public Service Reform, launched in the early 1990s, left much to be desired.

The long and short of it is that the Public Service, which is the core of the permanent administrative machinery of the Government of Malta, has not delivered and Dr Godwin Grima wants to have another go.

The government was very well aware of the inadequacies of the Civil Service and cobbled up a White Paper in October 2003 in anticipation of launching “A Public Service for the 2lst Century”.

Dr Eddie Fenech Adami, then Prime Minister, said in a preamble to the White Paper, that no government can take the efficiency and effectiveness of the Public Service for granted, adding that the Service could neither be bypassed nor replaced.

He declared that the Civil Service “is subordinate to the elected government, but has its own identity and professional values, which must be acknowledged and its institutional integrity, which must be respected”.

The White Paper envisaged provisions for the establishment of a new office – that of Principal Permanent Secretary to fulfil the role of Head of the Public Service – the creation of a brand new “Senior Executive Service” and a Public Service Management Committee

High-handedness

Public reaction to the White Paper ranged from critical to hostile – to the point that the government lost interest and has, so far, desisted from proposing the enactment of a Public Service Act. It nevertheless proceeded to appoint a Principal Permanent Secretary without going through the parliamentary mill! As a result of this act of high-handedness, no one has been answerable and accountable.

Whose fingers were in the pie? Is there a dividing line between politicians in office and administrative civil servants?

Dr Godwin Grima was asked: “Do ministers give Civil Service heads leeway to work, or do they try to have a finger in every pie?”

Dr Grima, who gives the impression that he is not a “Yes, Minister,” type, replied, “A minister has a political programme he has to execute. But administrative decisions have to be taken by the administration.”

It is one thing for Dr Grima to draw that dividing line from his perch. It is another for us to assume that the dividing line is there, when overbearing and politically voracious politicians lay down the law.

There ARE politicians who seem to think they are monarchs of all they survey, and who expect one and all to kow-tow to them and do their bidding – and that they ride roughshod over senior civil servants as well as heads of public corporations and utilities.

One such head has just written in the Press, under his name, to say that this must stop, and expressed his concern that the turnover of chairmen over the last two years has been so high. Others have declined to be reappointed. Only one of them had the guts and the personal dignity to stand up and deplore the nation’s loss as a result of this state of affairs.

What Civil Service is Dr Grima talking about?

There was a time when the Malta Civil Service was the home of heavyweights who made us proud. They knew their place, but they also knew how to stand up and hold their ground. Some of these heavyweights are still in harness in Public Service. Two of them are Officers of Parliament and still serve as Auditor General and Ombudsman respectively.

We need many more of them – urgently. Dr Grima’s task is to groom new talent.

But new talent will flourish ONLY if it is given its head and allowed to work in the right environment.

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