Tonga's top civil servants to sign work contracts [1]
Monday, March 22, 2004 - 09:42. Updated on Monday, May 5, 2014 - 12:12.
Starting in July heads of Tonga's government departments will be required to sign a working contract with government, setting out the duration of their service and their salaries.
Afu'alo Matoto, the Chairman of the government's Higher Salaries Review committee said that the contract required for some of the top posts is part of the Civil Service Reform Program that government introduced in June 2002.
The Higher Salaries Review Committee was established in November 2003, with a tall order from government of what is to be completed before May 1, 2004, when government finalises the draft of its annual budget for the 2004-2005 financial year.
The Committee was to review and to make recommendations on the remuneration of the Chief Justice and Judge and Magistrates, Heads of Government Departments, the Commissioner for Public Relations, the Commander of the Tonga Defence Services, the Commander of the Tonga Police Force; and the Superintendent of Prisons. The committee was also to make recommendations on the pay, pensions and the allowances of Cabinet ministers, nobles, and the Members of Parliament if requested by the Speaker of the House.
Since November 2003, the former chairman of the committee, Taniela Tufui, had resigned for health reasons, and the committee became inactive until the appointment of Afu'alo Matoto as the new chairman on January 20.
Afu said that there was pressure on the committee to meet its May 1 deadline, and to achieve that they had prioritised their work and were focusing only on the salaries of the Chief Justice and Judge and Magistrates; Heads of Government Departments; the Commissioner for Public Relations; the Commander of the Tonga Defence Services; the Commander of the Tonga Police Force; and the Superintendent of Prisons.
Afu said that a revision of the upper echelon of the public service had been done a number times in the past, but it was different this time because it was a requirement under the Public Service Reform Program that was introduced by government in June 2002, and the people whose salaries they were reviewing were outside the jurisdiction of the Public Service Commission. He said that the salaries of these people are either being subsidised from overseas or are being set by other people, and not by the Public Service Commission, "for example the salary of the Commander of the Tonga Defence Services is set by their own Board.
"Under the Public Service Reform Program Heads of Government Departments will be working under working contract starting in July and therefore their salaries will be set separately from the rest of the public service."
Afu said that some of the things they must take into consideration were that the salary level they would recommend would make it easy for the Commission to recruit staff, to get the skilled people that government needs and to keep them in the service. Afu said that the Civil Service was now facing competition from both the Public companies and the Private Sector, which are offering high salaries, retirement benefits and job security, "things that used to attract people into the Civil Service."
Afu said that other matters they would take into consideration included, "the salaries which are offered by regional organisations and by companies in New Zealand and Australia. Affordability will be the bottom line, what government can really afford to pay."
The other two members of the Higher Salaries Review Committee are Christine 'Uta'atu, a public accountant, the wife of the Commander of the Tonga Defence Services; and 'Uhila Liava'a, an accountant and the financial controller of the Janful International Dateline Hotel.