Dear Editor – Rumours had it, that the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Rural Development has been suspended by the Ministry of Public Service for some unknown reasons that only the Minister himself knows.
Now, as a former member of the Public Service Commission, I am asking the chairman of the public service commission and the Prime Minister, under what provisions in the Constitution of Solomon Islands, does the Minister of Public Service, have the power to suspend the Permanent Secretary?
From what I know, as a former member of PSC, is that only the Public Service Commission has the power under section 116 of the Constitution to deal with public officers who hold public offices in the public service.
A permanent secretary’s post is a constitutional post and it is a public office. What the minister did can be regarded as illegal or unconstitutional.
The Permanent Secretary must be given back her post or if not she must take the matter to court. Honestly, the Public Service Commission is not functioning at all.
This same minister is also involved in a land issue here at Lambete, which for some unknown reasons, he supported a couple who claimed to have bought a piece of government land which the Western Province has built houses on it to accommodate its employees many many years ago until today.
The Commissioner of Land must quickly deal with all of these illegal claims of various pieces of government registered lands here at Munda before it’s too late to solve.
Romano Nongebatu
Munda
