Lack of personnel and other means was again frequently mentioned while handling the draft 2027 budget in a plenary session of Parliament. Related headlines in Tuesday’s paper included “ECYS Minister Gumbs identifies Cg. 11.8M funding gaps for 2027” as well as “VSA budget cut by 5%, minister warns resources insufficient to meet needs” and “General Affairs focussed on Govt. capacity, partnerships and preparedness.”
This is followed in today’s edition by “Justice Ministry remains at 54 per cent staffing capacity” and “Finance Ministry faces staffing shortage, with only 63% of formal positions filled” plus “VROMI aims to fill 107 positions by 2027.” Similar sentiments were expressed earlier during the recent Central Committee meeting on the proposed budget.
It’s not just an incidental matter either. The same issue had been a common thread when debating the 2026 budget last August and earlier versions basically since country status was obtained per 10-10-10.
One reason is available finances. If all these vacancies were filled at once, there probably wouldn’t be enough money to pay so many people.
The latter has a lot to do with low fiscal compliance and efforts are underway to address that. However, based on government’s current revenues the term “too big for your britches” seems fitting.
Increased cost not fully backed by higher income is a recipe for disaster. Especially in this day and age of digital systems and now even Artificial Intelligence (AI), the question may rightfully be asked whether downsizing the public administration’s organisational structure to make it more affordable should not be considered.
As former Finance Minister Richard Gibson once put it, you can only spend what you earn.
