Last week’s announcement by Finance Minister Marinka Gumbs that she had requested Foundation Government Accountants Bureau SOAB to look into “ghost workers” in the public administration received backing from Prime Minister Luc Mercelina (see Wednesday newspaper). Although not the first attempt to address this ongoing phenomenon, an audit certainly seems like a good place to start.
Most think it regards lazy civil servants who fail to show up for duty without a legitimate reason, but that’s just part of the problem. Sometimes conditions at the job are to blame, not only the persons directly involved.
Party- as well as so-called office-politics might play a role, because officials in positions of power can make things hard on lower-rank staff they do not favour. In addition to claims of sickness, these kinds of perhaps hidden obstacles must also be studied, preferably on a case-by-case basis.
While that takes a lot of effort, individual circumstances may vary greatly. Important is to seek balanced solutions that do justice to each situation.
Having said that, the thought of people abusing the system and collecting a salary without earning such is infuriating to many tax-payers. It’s frustrating for active colleagues and hard to understand for private sector employees, who likely wouldn’t be able to easily get away with similar behaviour.
No matter how you look at it, this matter must be effectively tackled sooner rather than later. No work, no pay.