Opposition MP Anita Haynes called on the Prime Minister to come clean on whether he gave the instructions to transfer Permanent Secretary Kyle Meyer.
Meyer was transferred from the Ministry of Education, less than two weeks after he was criticised on a public platform by Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley.
On October 26, Dr Rowley spoke about an unnamed PS being a hindrance to achieving the Government’s Budget Day promise to pay public servants backpay before Christmas 2023. At that October 26 news briefing, Rowley, using TTUTA’s backpay as an example, said the PS wrote to the Minister of Finance and said those payments cannot be facilitated until May 2024.
Rowley said that would not be tolerated by the Cabinet and the Government would do what must be done. The Prime Minister said he had also complained to the head of the public service, who is also the PS in the Office of the Prime Minister.
However, Haynes says, “This development, occurring in close proximity to Prime Minister Rowley’s public lamentation about public servants’ perceived autonomy, amplifies the need for transparency and accountability in handling such crucial matters.”
Haynes lamented that “rather than be provided with the additional resources and support required, PS Meyers was transferred via the intervention of the Prime Minister, who also painted an incomplete and villainous picture in the court of public opinion.
“It is quite unfortunate that a career public servant’s reputation is being diminished because he could not turn water into wine for the Government.”