Minister Chang Reiterates Six-Month Timeline for Revisions Under New Public-Sector-Compensation Regime

Minister of National Security, Hon. Dr. Horace Chang, is reminding police officers that there is a six-month period after the implementation of the Government’s compensation review to apply corrections, where necessary.

The Minister was addressing the Jamaica Police Federation (JPF) 80th Annual Joint Central Conference at the Ocean Coral Spring Resort in Trelawny on Tuesday (May 30).

Dr. Chang, who is also Deputy Prime Minister, further noted that the Government is aware that converting what was a very “confusing and difficult” accounting process, would come with some challenges.

“That is why the Heads of Agreement indicate that we have a six-month period [where] we would look at all the issues of anomalies, corrections and what is required to ensure that we have a sensible system in place,” he said.

While acknowledging that there were some challenges during the process, Dr. Chang pointed out that there were also several advantages and positives.

“I had the privilege of working with the [JPF’s] central executive and, for me, it was instructive in several ways. Besides building what I consider appropriate relationships with the executive, it gave me a deep insight into the conditions of the compensation of the police officers,” he said.

“It was an eye opener for me to look at the [compensation package] and see the details and we learnt together… and those discussions were instructive and constructive. I think, in many ways, it has marked a turning point in our relationship; we are working together to find a more reasonable answer to the discussion and to the challenges that we are faced with,” he said.

Dr. Chang maintained that, errors and anomalies aside, it should be borne in mind that the Government undertook what was essentially a “mammoth task”.

“It’s not easy to reorganise the entire public service’s compensation package… and it also puts some resources in the public sector. To find the right amount is always challenging, and critical to all this was the Minister [of

Finance and the Public Service, Dr. the Hon. Nigel Clarke] who was trying to find a system for the entire public sector, including politicians,” he said.

The two-day conference is being held from May 30 to 31 under the theme ‘Focused Together: One Path, One Goal, through Excellence and Commitment’.