Comments on: Dr. Derrick Binns “Confident” In Public Officers

By: Not exactly

Not exactly — Wed, 04 Mar 2015 12:23:29 +0000

Red herring? Salaries and benefits amount to 47% of Gov’t spending. 1 furlough day a month amounted to $18M in savings.

By: ( Just a thought )

( Just a thought ) — Wed, 04 Mar 2015 04:48:43 +0000

Lets get real the civil service is bloated , over paid in wages and far to many benefits . The average Bermudian is not getting there money’s worth from the government sector ( civil service ) . The private sector and people with out jobs are being asked constantly daily to pay for all of this ! It’s time for the Government to grow some ( you know what ) and cut the fat , waste , thievery or what ever you call it , and do it know !!!

By: Too late

Too late — Wed, 04 Mar 2015 01:08:22 +0000

It took him a long time to assure us we had a good civil service. What a let down.

By: Govt worker

Govt worker — Tue, 03 Mar 2015 23:23:05 +0000

The civil servants enjoy working with the new govt because there is less dictatorial interference.

By: jt

jt — Tue, 03 Mar 2015 22:56:14 +0000

A bloated civil service is a bloated civil service. There are simply far too many employees for them all to be productively engaged. It is financially unsustainable,both now and after they retire. Even if we manage to grow jobs in the private sector they will never choose to leave the CS. Why would they? And we certainly know what will happen if they are let go.

By: Loquat tree

Loquat tree — Tue, 03 Mar 2015 18:23:01 +0000

Not really comparable at all. Florida towns will benefit from State and federal laws and oversight, infrastructure improvements, economies of scale and so on.
What services are they providing themselves for this? Probably not a tourism dept., America’s Cup infrastructure, new hospital, international airport and other things essential to our economy.

By: Loquat tree

Loquat tree — Tue, 03 Mar 2015 18:17:44 +0000

The Furlough days are a red herring here! The cost saving was a drop in the bucket, look back at the figures.
Don’t believe the attrition statement here, either. Services will be cut, reduced or take longer. Less staff will mean less services – get used to it.
Cut your own hedges on roadside boundaries, pick up trash and litter, better still don’t drop it in first place. Pay all your government bills on time or you and me will have to pay someone to try to chase this money.

By: bluebird

bluebird — Tue, 03 Mar 2015 16:04:51 +0000

We still cannot afford you and manny others in such a huge civil service,or are you trying to justify the Goverment Borrowing another Two or Three Hundred Million Dollars per year to keep your Huge pay checks going.
There is a same size town in florida,area in sq.miles same poplulation,same services etc etc etc,But there Budget is $91Million and run by nine people.
So cut the B.S. Binns.

By: F

Tue, 03 Mar 2015 14:28:42 +0000

There are senior civil servants, one I know of for sure, without a 4 year degree taking home $100K+ a year… who does nothing.

By: jt

jt — Tue, 03 Mar 2015 14:03:40 +0000

Funny…I actually viewed this as an attempted justification for the ridiculous size of our CS.
Taking issue with the ridiculous size of our CS is not demonizing the workers. They didn’t allow it to happen.

By: jt

jt — Tue, 03 Mar 2015 13:57:14 +0000

You cannot justify the size of our civil service by saying it is due to an increasingly sophisticated economy. Just compare us to…well…anywhere else.

By: Truth

Truth — Tue, 03 Mar 2015 13:51:15 +0000

What Derrick fails to recognize is that Gov Exec and Senior positions are flooded with patronage appointments of unqualified persons which has helped lead this Government into disarray — praise them all you want Derrick, but we all know the truth.

By: Raymond Ray

Raymond Ray — Tue, 03 Mar 2015 13:32:47 +0000

Well presented, a logical explanation of wants, needs and what we can afford.

“The Government debt and deficit will not be solved by painting Public Officers as lazy or incompetent, and then using that as a justification for reducing the size of the Service. The issue will be resolved by determining the services that the Bermuda Government must provide, those that it need no longer provide, and resizing the Public Service accordingly.”

End of conversation!

By: Not exactly

Not exactly — Tue, 03 Mar 2015 13:32:22 +0000

Whilst I agree with the overarching sentiment as a mid to long term solution (get rid of positions where there is inefficiency or services are unneeded), I still contend that the better short-term solution was for the entire service to share the cost cutting burden through pay cuts or furlough days so as to minimize the need for redunancies. It is a shame that the civil service and union leaders are so adamant that people be laid off.

By: Treasure Hunter

Treasure Hunter — Tue, 03 Mar 2015 13:20:04 +0000

Dr. Binns has has spent most, if not all, of his career in the Goverment / Civil Service in many different departments, many different roles and responsibilities. It’s not necessarily a bad thing and he’s not alone in that regard it’s just something to keep in mind. According to a bio online, when he returned from University he was the first psychologist for Prisons here back in 1986 and has floated within Govt ever since.

By: stunned...

stunned... — Tue, 03 Mar 2015 13:02:21 +0000

…of course Dr Binns would be as objective as turkeys voting for Thanksgiving.

By: Onion

Onion — Tue, 03 Mar 2015 12:27:30 +0000

You’re mixing it up. The massive ministerial interference and violations of financial instructions are detailed in Auditor General reports from the PLP era.

By: Rockfish#1 and #2

Rockfish#1 and #2 — Tue, 03 Mar 2015 03:00:17 +0000

This is what one would expect him to say…….another senior Civil Servant singing for his supper while waiting for his pension day to draw nigh.

By: Coffee

Coffee — Tue, 03 Mar 2015 00:33:55 +0000

In this instance , would DR.Binns be speaking on behalf of the OBA/UBP government , or is this his personal sentiments ?

By: Guapo

Guapo — Mon, 02 Mar 2015 23:55:14 +0000

Somewhere within the second paragraph, I started to yawn and I asked myself, ” Would we expect for the Head of the Civil Service to say otherwise?”

I’ll let that marinate…

By: Coffee

Coffee — Mon, 02 Mar 2015 21:18:34 +0000

A demonized civil service is a demoralized civil service and the OBA/UBP while the opposition , through and , in lock step with their blind followers sought to make the Bermudian civil servant the absolute scourge of the rock . Bob Under The Hood even went as far as to make public that he (BUTH)didn’t trust the figures put out by the office of The Account General .
Listen to Derrick Binns if you like , but , coming from this OBA /UBP government mere words fall far short of the proverbial Crease !

By: San George

San George — Mon, 02 Mar 2015 19:43:29 +0000

Civil servants need to ensure they follow the law while implementing the government’s mandate. This needs to be a country of laws – not I did it because Grant G. told me to do it.