Quality, consistency of public service to be monitored – Pres Ali puts regional officials on notice

Following a meeting with regional health and education officers and other senior officials, including Cabinet members, President Dr Irfaan Ali has announced that a quality assurance body would be set up in every region, and with help from civil society, that body would monitor the quality of public services being provided.

During recent community visits, President Ali was greeted not only with the success stories, but also with stories of the challenges encountered in the delivery of Government services. In the wake of those visits, regional health and education officers, as well as other senior officials, were called in for a meeting with the Head of State.

In a broadcast following that meeting, President Ali announced that a quality assurance body would be implemented in every region, with help from civil society. Those bodies, according to the Head of State, would help to ensure that regions are up to the task of delivering quality services to the people.

“We’re going to implement a Government quality assurance body in every region. That would include members of civil society that would help us ensure the quality and consistency of service is delivered,” he said.

President Ali also noted that, with respect to medical supplies, work would very shortly be done to not only decentralise the delivery of these supplies but to also improve monitoring and reconciliation in this regard.

“Very soon, we will decentralise the delivery of medical supplies in the regions themselves; so that, in the regions, they would have their entire year’s supply, and through an electronic platform, the daily use will be managed and reconciled,” he disclosed.

“So, the Minister of Health has been asked, for example, to ensure that by the end of this month, every region would have the demand chart for the entire year; and then the region is expected to have that demand chart further decentralized at the district level, so that there’s no gap or lag time,” the Head of State added.

President Ali also noted that this can aid in accountability since the stock of drugs can be monitored on a daily basis in order to ensure supplies are always replenished. According to Ali, central government is making all the necessary investments, and drug shortages should not be an issue.

Tuesday’s meeting was reminiscent of the stern, no-nonsense, early-morning meeting President Ali had called at State House last November, during which he had sent a clear message to delinquent contractors and complacent Government officials, and had warned them that delays and mismanagement of public projects would no longer be tolerated.

The President had summoned Ministers, Permanent Secretaries, Engineers, Consultants, technical staff and contractors who were four months and more behind on contracts to a 05:30h meeting where he had delivered a harsh reality check to those responsible for numerous stalled or overdue projects.

During his engagement with those present, the Guyanese leader had expressed frustration at the alarming state of delays across the country. However, to the president’s dismay, numerous key officials and contractors had either been absent or were late to the meeting — a telling sign of the lackadaisical attitude that had spawned inefficiencies.

At the meeting, over eleven contracts were flagged by the Education Ministry for delayed completion. However, only one contractor showed up at the meeting to provide clarity on why his company was lagging behind.

In subsequent comments, Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo had described the meeting as the President exhibiting “tough love”. At one of his press conferences, the Vice President had defended the President’s approach, noting that the Government believed in the capability of its Ministers, but must give “tough love” when required.

Only last week, the People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) Government presented a $1.382 trillion budget for 2025, marking the second budget in Guyana’s history when the trillion-dollar mark was crossed. That budget contains a wave of measures aimed at not only moving the economy forward but bringing direct benefits to Guyanese.

And President Ali had made it clear recently that the 2025 budget would focus more heavily on community investments. He noted that in this budget, there would be more “focus on further strengthening of communities, empowering communities, giving communities more resources, making more resources available at a community level so that we can fix those little issues.”