Expat recruited over retirement age for T&CP, says Donovan-Stevens
This information was revealed at the 2012 Standing Finance Committee (SFC) deliberations during the presentation by the Human Resources Department.
Minister for Education and Culture Hon. Myron V. Walwyn made an enquiry about the retirement process to which the Acting Director of Human Resources Mrs. Michelle Donovan-Stevens responded that an officer could retire when he/she reached the mandatory retirement age of sixty years or twenty five years of service, whichever came first.
Minister Walwyn asked whether the age of an officer played a role when recruiting on contract and whether it was good practice to recruit persons over the retirement age at this time. The freshman Minister also wondered whether there were any expatriate contract officers that presently fitted that category.
Mrs. Donovan-Stevens claimed in her response that appointments were based on merits and qualifications and it was not a common practice to recruit persons over the age of sixty years but she was aware of at least one officer who was recruited over the retirement age. She further stated that the officer was recruited as the Deputy Chief Planner in T&CP.
The Minister for Education and Culture requested information regarding the minimum requirements of the post and whether any officer within the service could have filled that post. The Acting Director of Human Resources reported that the position was advertised and went through the recruitment process and was considered by the Public Service Commission and the appointment was made by the Governor.
Donovan-Stevens told the SFC that to her knowledge there were no internal or local candidates that matched the requirements for the post.
However, Minister Walwyn fired back and felt that the job description was designed specifically for someone and it was tantamount to denying a local from getting the post. The controversial Minister felt based on the requirements locals would not have qualified. He further requested information regarding the job description for the Chief Planner and the Acting Human Resources Director, said that she would provide that information to the Members.
Meanwhile, Walwyn asked whether a new Director of Public Prosecutions was contracted and whether that officer’s performance had been evaluated and the government was satisfied with the performance. He also asked whether there was a succession plan in place for someone in that office to take over when the contract expired.
The Acting Director of Human Resources told the select committee that the Director of Public Prosecution was contracted about two years ago, but she could not speak to the officer’s performance evaluation and department’s succession plan at the time.
Minister Walwyn also wanted to know if the Human Resources Department was making efforts for locals to understudy those persons on contracts in the various areas they were contracted on.
The Ag. DHR in her response said that efforts were made to ensure that the number of expatriate contracts was consistently reduced through the training and development programmes in place for local officers.
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