The government's initiative to modernise the public sector is making headway and the Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU) has been granted additional time to submit its proposals on the reforms.
A release from the Government Information Agency GINA on Tuesday said that the GPSU has been granted an extension by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) which is funding the project. The union, during the period of consultation, had requested more time to consult with its members.
According to the release, Co-ordinator of the process and Permanent Secretary at the Office of the President, Jennifer Webster told GINA that the IDB had given its approval and the union now had to submit its report to the IDB.
Webster stated that the government had already compiled and submitted its report from the other consultations to the donor agency, and the local partner office had been closed.
Following the union's submission, the project will move to phase two, which deals with initiating recommendations garnered during the consensus building exercise, the release said.
According to the release, the new design plan will enable Guyana's leaders to access vital information they will require to make strategic decisions with regard to public sector modernisation.
The modernisation design project was prepared, in close collaboration between Guyana's leaders and The Governance Network (TGN) a Canadian-based management-consulting firm, which was awarded this task in January 2002, the GINA release said.
The consensus building exercise on the final draft of the Public Sector Modernisation Design Plan (PSMDP), has seen contributions from various groups in Georgetown including the Public Service at the senior and middle management, administrative and technical levels, the academic community at the University of Guyana (UG), the Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU), the Guyana Bar Association (GBA), Non-Governmental Organisations, the Georgetown Municipality, the Private Sector and bodies within the ten administrative regions.