Cut down on Hela servants

 Source : The National

HELA administrator William Bando, who was confirmed to the job last Thursday, says one of his first tasks will be to cut down the number of public servants.
“One of the first jobs I need to do is to prune public servants who are in exile at will, and collecting pay from outside of place of employment,” Bando said.
“I take this opportunity to advise such public servants to return home and transact from the ATMs in Tari.
“I have removed 57 ghost names and terminated 43 officers from the payroll and this exercise will continue, so we have useful public servants living and working in Hela.
“We are suffering from accommodation and office space problems, but this should not be an excuse.
“Our leaders do appreciate these challenges and will address them in due time.” Bando said it had been “a long and a painful journey to be the first PA of our beloved baby province”.
“I have gone length and breadth and I thank my God for carrying me through the darkest of the moments,” he said.
“I thank Prime Minister (Peter O’Neill) and ministers of his Cabinet for the confidence in me to continue what I started since November 2010 during the transition years, until we attained the status of a province in 2012.
“I also thank Governor Anderson Agiru and Hela MPs James Marape, Phillip Undialu and Francis Potape along with our presidents of the 13 LLGs.
“I also thank my other brothers who also applied for the job for giving a challenge, which never bordered on personalities, but in true spirit of professionalism.” “It’s time we rest our differences because the development and social challenges at hand in Hela demands us to approach the prevailing issues with collective minds.
“Our province is so blessed and is so special and I can only wish that our divides – either social, administrative or political –  are swiftly resolved.”