PHILOSOPHY FOR PUBLIC SECTOR REFORM Government's ...

White Paper on Public Sector ReformGovernment to take serious reform initiatives and action to achieve its developmentobjectives. Rapid changes in global socio-economic, political and technologicalenvironments dictate that the public sector must be transformed into a more activeand responsive agency if it is to assist the Government in its quests for sustainedeconomic growth and development. Over the last decade, there has been a shift inglobal economic relations towards the establishment of mega trading blocs andeconomic unions. This, coupled with developments in information technology, hasresulted in the formation of a “global village”. Some noticeable features of thisphenomenon are increased competition and the creation of successfulprivate/public sector alliance.It is now widely recognised that government must invent a radically different wayof doing business in the public sector. The public sector can no longer function inthe traditional mode. The new millennium will require a more flexible institutionand the emphasis must be on strategic approaches to planning. A reformed publicsector therefore must be infused with new values, a higher sense of mission andpurpose and be totally infused with a “spirit of new professionalism”.Public Sector Reform must be characterised by genuine and persistent effortswhich support the attainment of the government’s macro-economic objectives asstated by the Prime Minister the Right Honourable Owen Arthur at the NationalConsultation on Refocusing Government in January 1995 as follows:“For Barbados to move from its commendable position of being thenumber one developing country in the world, to the clique of developednations, which is my government’s ultimate goal, it must strive formaximum efficiency in the economy. This cannot be achieved if the