Permanent Secretary for Civil Service, Parmesh Chand and Chairperson for Investment Fiji, Jenny Seeto

The Permanent Secretary for Civil Service, Parmesh Chand, and the Chairperson for Investment Fiji, Jenny Seeto, are at loggerheads over the Civil Service’s perceived work culture.

Seeto had stated at a talanoa session organized by the Fiji Commerce and Employers Federation that the lack of response from the Civil Service sector is one of the biggest challenges they face while promoting the country.

Sentiments that were replicated by the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Professor Biman Prasad, adding that it’s a culture that’s been there for a long time, but has gotten worse in some areas.

Professor Prasad says permanent secretaries are expected to get out of their offices, look at what’s happening, and understand the problems.

Meanwhile, Chand says this is an extremely generalized statement, defending that Fiji’s Civil Service is well organized and has stood the test of time on numerous occasions.

He adds that there are Agencies in Government that scrutinize proposals and applications for permits.

They have been sanctioned with the responsibility to ensure safety compliance, adherence to environmental and health standards, protection of waterways and natural habitats, safeguarding the weak and vulnerable, and generally ensuring fair play.

Chand agreed that it may take time to ensure there is a full spectrum of information to hand or, for that matter, an assessment to be made taking into account the interests of those they are expected to address as part of respective legislation and regulations.

There are no shortcuts, as it may end up risking lives and Fiji’s fragile environment.

He adds that if Seeto, as Chairperson of Investment Fiji, has issues with those Agencies processing certain permits, she needs to bring those up through the established channels for consideration by the line Ministry or Permanent secretary, for that matter.

The PS says this ought to be an ongoing process, as they are all there doing their jobs by way of the respective legislation and regulations.

There are a number of initiatives announced in the 2023–2024 National Budget that will address further streamlining and improvements in service delivery by those Agencies involved in investment and permit approval processes.

The Ministry of Civil Service looks forward to engaging with the private sector and relevant industry organizations to better understand the issues and accordingly make changes to bring about those much needed improvements.