fp Turks and Caicos

The reorganization of nine existing government ministries into five has been revealed as the Turks and Caicos Islands interim government attempts to make public services more efficient and less expensive.

“This will see business done in a very different way by allowing the new permanent secretaries to operate more strategically, each supported by two or three deputy secretaries, in turn replacing the previous under secretary grades,” government CEO Patrick Boyle said in a statement Jan. 18. “The intention is to allow each ministry to have stronger financial, (human resource) and communications functions than previously possible.”

A new Ministry of Health and Education brings together the health and education ministries to create the largest ministry, which will account for approximately half of all government spending on services to residents.

Judith Campbell, permanent secretary of the current Ministry of Health and Human Services, will oversee this new ministry.

A new Ministry of Finance and Economics led by Anya Swann Williams, chief budget analyst in the Ministry of Finance, will combine the finance and trade and tourism ministries.

The Ministry of Environment and Home Affairs, led by Permanent Secretary Susan Malcolm of the Office of Public Service Management, will be a single ministry responsible for regulatory and related issues.

A new Ministry of Government Support Services led by Wesley Clerveaux, director of the Department of Environment and Coastal Resources, will absorb the Office of Public Service Management, the Ministry of Works, Housing and Utilities, and the Department of Disaster Management. The ministry will handle all human resources, information technology and infrastructure in support of the other ministries, Boyle said.

As part of the reorganization, the Director of Lands will report to the Attorney General and be responsible for the Land Registry, the Crown Land Unit, Valuation, and Surveys/Mapping. This change is part of the new Crown Land Policy that was published in September.

The Ministry of Border Control and Labour led by Clara Gardiner, who keeps her current post under the reorganization, will remain a separate ministry in charge of policing the TCI’s borders and encouraging employment of Turks and Caicos Islanders.

However, Gardiner will be considering some restructuring, such as whether there would be advantages to merging all customs functions, including revenue protection and border protection, with Border Control and Labour.

“One of the strategic aims of our work to improve the efficiency of the public service is to create these five larger and more powerful ministries ahead of the start of the new financial year in April,” Boyle said.

“This proposed structure for the new ministries has been developed with inputs from the five new permanent secretaries as well as their predecessors. I will work with the new senior team to consult more widely on the allocation of departments and functions to new ministries and to implement these changes over the coming weeks and months.”

“This is a shot in the arm for the entire TCI public service at each and every grade. For example, the 13 new deputy secretaries’ roles will be much more demanding than the existing under secretaries’ posts — more akin to what we previously expected from a (permanent secretary) in the old system,” Boyle said.

The deadline for applications for the new deputy positions closed Jan. 15. The new permanent secretaries will now help select those who will help them develop and lead the new government structure.

Photo: New permanent secretaries met with government CEO Patrick Boyle on Grand Turk on Jan. 18. They are (from left) Clara Gardiner, Judith Campbell, Boyle, Wesley Clerveaux, Anya Swann Williams and Susan Malcolm.