Nikhil Aiyush Kumar 
Civil Service permanent secretary Parmesh Chand has clarified why approved overtime payments will only be available for six months.
He said this is in response to a statement by the Fiji Institute of Medical Laboratory Sciences, seeking clarification from the Ministry as to why a temporary solution was being applied to such a critical issue.
Chand said the six-month extension should not be considered in isolation.
He said it was being done to allow a whole-range of other measures to be explored and implemented for a sustainable workforce management.
The PS added that the measures were meant to help the Ministry actively explore options to overcome the skills shortage it was facing.
Chand said there were sufficient graduates coming out of universities in Fiji who can fill these gaps.
He said the Civil Service Ministry was flexible and reviewing the six-month timeframe would be done based on the circumstances prevailing at that time.
