5 Nov 2008

Fiji Public Service makes headway on plans to shrink public sector

9:14 pm on 5 November 2008

Fiji's Public Service Commission says it has managed to scrap 800 public service jobs this year as part of the interim government's plan to reduce the sector's size.

The interim government is planning to shrink its public service by ten percent to save money.

The commission's chair, Rishi Ram, says eighty percent of the budget was spent on public service employees in the past and this measure will save the state between eight point four and ten million US dollars a year.

"We have managed to remove about 800 posts. Most of them have been deployed elsewhere within the public service. The positions left vacant through resignations and retirements have not been filled. So so far we have manged to get on without any redundancy plans."

Rishi Ram says it plans to further scrap another 1200 jobs in the same way next year.