Transfer is not dismissal

Dear Editor,

IT seems that any time a senior public servant is transferred or deployed to another department, PNC/APNU turns this into a political issue, throwing in a good dash of racism to sweeten it.

Recently, a former Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Amerindian Affairs was deployed to another department because her ministry had been disbanded.  PNC/APNU, in trying to mislead others, announced that this transfer was a dismissal and the permanent secretary herself gave the impression that her salary was stopped, though she was receiving her full salary at all times.

The truth is:
I. The Public Service Commission (PSC) hires and dismisses public servants, not the government.
ii. Deploying a permanent secretary, who is a public servant, is the responsibility of the PSC, not government
iii. The permanent secretary, who is a public servant, never loses pay or benefits.
It is only an ill-informed person who could have been fooled to believe that the Permanent Secretary of the Amerindian Affairs Ministry lost pay or was dismissed. It therefore behoves the former Permanent Secretary of the Amerindian Affairs Ministry to explain to the media and the public that she was not dismissed, nor did she lose pay or benefits.

Yours sincerely
Paul Validum Ramlochan