Education cancels foreign trips, overtime

The Ministry of Education, Arts and Culture has made drastic cuts in foreign trips and overtime work, which will only be allowed if it is in line with the ministry’s annual development plans. In a circular issued on Wednesday the ministry said there were shortfalls in its remuneration budget, which now stands at N$458 287 938, and it therefore suspended all international trips for the 2016/17 financial year. “If not remedied [it] will result in the non-payment of salaries for the month of March 2016; the savings from this exercise will be utilised for the clearance of the anticipated shortfalls,” the circular stated. The ministry’s permanent secretary, Sanet Steenkamp, emphasised that the circular was simply a warning and that there was no need for staff to panic over their March salaries. “We just have to put internal procedures in place to get the desired results. We just had our review and we looked at our full expenditure report. We don’t want wasteful expenditure,” said Steenkamp. According to her these new measures will be reviewed in the new financial year but the ministry will continue to scrutinise and curb unnecessary travelling. Local trips will be monitored closely too. “We are very vigilant. We just want to make decisions based on facts. For now we do not have any trips. And we have made considerable reductions with these strict measures,” Steenkamp said. The ministry has also clamped down on overtime work. Since October last year it has not allowed ministerial and regional headquarter staff to work on Sundays or public holidays. President Hage Geingob and Prime Minister Saara-Kuugongelwa have repeatedly condemned wasteful public spending. In September, Kuugongelwa-Amadhila urged permanent secretaries to ensure the efficient and effective use of ministerial resources by eliminating waste, misappropriation and misuse of public resources. “It is not only misappropriation that is wrong; you can see government cars driven recklessly around town. The money that can be used for security or nurses is spent on the replacement of these cars,” she said. She also criticised high subsistence and travel allowances and overtime payments and the fact that some government workers believe it is their right to travel. “Can you believe some would even say they must also travel because someone else travelled? This situation has resulted in a partial crowding out of money that should go to service delivery,” said Kuugongelwa-Amadhila. JEMIMA BEUKES