“The Ministry of Public Administration is there to ensure the efficient functioning of Government.”
This is the statement from the Minister of Public Administration, Allyson West, as she detailed some of the Ministry’s recent achievements.
She said a prime example is their partnership with other Government Ministries and Agencies through their current digitalisation process, including increased online outreach, which is already removing barriers to the processing of gratuity and pensions.
“At the moment, when you need to get your pension, you have to find thirty-three odd years of records now in paper form in various Ministries because you’ve moved around, so we have digitalised the Ministry of Public Admin, and we are now working to digitalise all the HR records across the service so that we can move to a fully integrated, operational Human Resource Management platform.”
Minister West also explained how the Ministry is focused on decentralising access to social, legal and financial resources.
“Another project that we have embarked on is the creation of administrative centres in key areas. So, two were set up before my tenure, one in Tunapuna and one in Siparia. What we’re doing is looking at the real centres of activities so Point Fortin, San Fernando, Chaguanas, Tobago, Arima, to set up these admin centres and make them one-stop shops.”
Minister West confirmed that the Point Fortin Heritage Administrative Complex, one of the Ministry’s first full-service centres, is set to open later in 2025.