The government is set to deploy accounting officers from the Treasury into key ministries as part of a reform initiative aimed at improving efficiency, accountability and the processing of payments across the public sector.
The move comes amid ongoing public complaints about delays in payments and administrative bottlenecks within government departments.
Director General for Communications Maurice Merchant said the initiative is designed to address long-standing concerns about how financial transactions are handled.
“Persons have been complaining… that they’ve been to the Treasury and there is nothing there, no payment and so forth,” Merchant said, pointing to a backlog of documentation as a key issue.
He explained that delays often originate at the ministry level, where paperwork is not processed or submitted in a timely manner.
“A lot of the times it’s because there is a backlog of work being sent to the Treasury… documents being processed by ministries to the Treasury,” he said.
Under the new pilot programme, accounting officers will be assigned to three ministries — Public Works, Creative Industries and National Security — to strengthen financial oversight and improve real-time expenditure monitoring.
“The initiative is designed to strengthen financial oversight within ministries, improve real-time expenditure monitoring, enhance commitment controls, and build financial management capacity,” Merchant said.
The programme is expected to begin in the second quarter of the year, with Cabinet receiving periodic updates before any wider rollout.
Merchant said the officers will also play a role in modernizing internal systems and advising ministries on improving financial operations.
“One of the remits is to strengthen the financial capability of these departments… and if one of the recommendations is for increase in staffing, then that be made,” he said.
The reform is part of a broader Treasury restructuring effort aimed at addressing inefficiencies and improving service delivery to the public.
“If there is a plan or a strategy by departments to how they operate with the Treasury, then most of these problems… can be alleviated,” Merchant said, adding that “follow through is important.”
Officials say the initiative is expected to streamline payment processes and reduce delays that have drawn criticism from both public servants and service providers.
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