Premier Parry Speaks Out On Current Recession
Charlestown, Nevis
January 15th, 2009
“This will be a year of frugality and hard work,” said Premier of Nevis and Minister of Finance, the Hon. Joseph Parry as he addressed Ministers of Government, Permanent Secretaries and Directors of all Government Departments at the Nevis Cultural Center on Tuesday, 13th January, 2009.
The Premier told the audience that this year he would like to see more people work together as a team and put aside petty politics for the benefit of the island of Nevis.
He asked Permanent Secretaries and Assistant Secretaries to treat their workers well with dignity and respect, Premier Parry also told them to be aware of what is going on in their departments and they must run their Ministry in a proper manner.
“You must give the general public good service and treat them decently, politely and with understanding that you are servants of the public. Workers should be encouraged to go to work on time and to give of their very best.”
Ministry of Finance, Premier Parry discussed the expenses that have been incurred by government workers such as high telephone bills and fuel costs.
“Persons must not run up high telephone bills. They should spend more time working and less time talking on the telephone! The abuse of government vehicles which leads to high fuel costs also need to stop. There is no need to use these vehicles for personal use. I would like to see the various ministries try to curtail these excess spending. The Heads of Departments need to inform their workers that this is a time to save!”
The Premier also discussed revenue collection for outstanding bills at the water department, which he said has amounted to $3.5 million.
“I would like to see that bill, reduced significantly to $1million in a matter of six weeks, if the water department is serious. If persons are purchasing water from the water department they must pay for it. Let me hasten to add, if anyone here can believe that all the wells that were here before last year can provide Nevis with water, think again. Now we have water from the excess drilling and water is running on a regular basis, let us pay.”
During this financial year, The Premier asked the government workers to manage well and understand that there is a recession going on worldwide, so people must prepare themselves.