MEET IN BOARDROOMS, NOT HOTELS - MADLOPHA

MBABANE – Senior personnel in all ministries have to overlook hotels and meet in boardrooms for government business.

According to the Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Public Service, Evart Madlopha, this was one of the measures heeding to the call by the Prime Minister, Ambrose Mandvulo Dlamini, to cut costs.

The premier informed the nation that Cabinet had taken eight key decisions in dealing with the financial challenges experienced by the country. These key decisions were said to be aimed at saving every penny by government, following the financial challenges.

Crisis

Leading to that, this publication had reported that despite the financial crisis, ministries were hosting meetings in hotels. An example of what has been termed unnecessary expenditure was the recent event involving Minister of Health, Lizzy Nkosi.
On November 15, the politician was met and introduced to senior Health ministry staff at Mountain Inn.

To this, Madlopha said the ministry was releasing a circular aimed at capping unnecessary expenditure. He noted that there were instances where government was sponsored.
He said: “We cannot say they should stop using hotels altogether; but their meetings should be held there if sponsored.”

Averting hosting meetings in hotels will save government money as the need for expensive refreshments will not be incurred.
The bureaucrat noted that there were conference rooms in all ministries where meetings could be held.

He further said working with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, the ministry had finalised means to ensure  that all sponsored external travel, as approved, will not attract quarter rate for all public servants.

“The 25 per cent awarded to personnel embarking on sponsored international trips will be a thing of the past as articulated by the premier.”
This, he said, was a term and condition of service that he was responsible for and had engaged other stakeholders to deal with.

Further, he said government had revived that every copy being photocopied or printed was done back-to-back. This, he said, was now a habit that every civil servant was accustomed to as paper rims were expensive.

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