Gov’t employees voice ‘distress’ after cancellation of public sector ministry

AMMAN — The 106 employees at the Ministry of Public Sector Development said they were “in a state of distress over their ambiguous fate” following a recent government reshuffle in which Prime Minister Omar Razzaz ordered the cancelling of the ministry and the appointment of its former minister, Majd Shweikeh, as the minister of state for institutional performance development.

The ministry employees who were interviewed by The Jordan Times preferred to speak under anonymity, voicing irritation over the sudden decision which they said they received from media sources just like other citizens.

They called for “fair alternatives” to their current positions with equal or similar salaries and financial incentives, but they voiced concerns over the guarantees of actual implementation to these rights. 

“The minister met with us a few days before the reshuffle and said that the ministry might be merged but not cancelled, but we were then surprised by the cancellation and that we might be left jobless,” one employee told The Jordan Times on Monday.

He claimed that judicial prosecution for financial dues will be a “definite fate” to many employees, who will lose all their current bonuses after transferring. “Most of us have taken loans and made our plans according to what we currently receive, but this sudden decision would take many of us to jail,” he explained.

Another employee said the files and cases that the ministry had been working on cannot be shorthanded and condensed under the “Institutional Performance Development”, adding that several laws and legislations would have to be changed following the cancellation.

“Now which ministry will be in charge of the Institution of Public Administration, and which ministry will coordinate with the Civil Service Bureau (CSB) over the public sector employment?” he asked, adding that “the reform plans between the ministry’s hands are not as simple as they seem”.

A third employee claimed that the cancellation was planned a long time ago.

“Competent and expert staff were being transferred to the Ministry of ICT over the past year, and this was planned to weaken the ministry body in preparation for its closure,” he told The Jordan Times. 

Asked if there is a plan for the transferring and redistribution of the cancelled ministry staff, CSB President Khaled Hmeisat told The Jordan Times that the answer and measures are in the hands of those that made this decision.  

Following a protest they staged in front of the ministry on Sunday, the employees said that they have elected two representative co-workers to speak on their behalf and discuss their demands with the former minister, Shweikeh.