Public Officers Warned to Resist Ministers’ Requests

Compounded with the ongoing Senate Special Select Committee inquiry on Immigration, in which several senior public officers have been implicated, in the P.S.U.’s words, of “outright corruption, wrongdoing and lack of integrity in the performance of their duties,” the P.S.U. makes clear that even when a Minister is to blame, the Public Service invariably takes the hit. Cayetano-Obermayer says that the P.S.U. is presently preparing its own protocols for reporting complaints of Ministerial influence by public officers. For now, the officer must clearly say no and document the incident for future reference. In general, the P.S.U. president said, public officers must resist requests for corrupt activities by Ministers and their cronies; otherwise they will be caught in the stench.

On the Phone: Doreth Cayetano Obermayer, President, Public Service Union

“If officers do come in contact in that regard, we have what we refer to as our I.R.O. (industrial relations officer), and those issues or concerns will be addressed in the right manner, because like what is indicated in the press release, you are to go…if I am the A.O. (accounting officer), the Minister should come to me; there is no way that a Minister should go to a junior public officer requesting him or her to do anything against what their regulations, what their stores orders have given them to do.”