Recreation, Parks & Cemeteries Unit (RPCU) has merged with Public Works Department to create better synergies within departments and provide better delivery of service to the public, Alan Jones, Chief Officer in the Ministry of Finance-District Administration, Works, Lands and Agriculture has announced.

This move is part of Deputy Governor Hon Franz Manderson’s plan known as Project 1: ‘Rationalisation and Transformation of the Public Service’. The goal of Project 1 is to reduce public sector costs by restructuring government ministries and agencies whose function overlap.

With 13 ministries and portfolios, over 70 departments and sections, 25 statutory authorities and government companies and numerous boards, committees and commission, the idea is to amalgamate government entities to improve overall efficiency and reduce costs.

In this case, RPCU’s current staff levels are well below what is required to meet the demands of cleaning 16 parks, 18 beaches, 26 beach accesses, 16 restrooms, 13 docks/ramps, 12 cemeteries and nine beautification areas. This equates to over 100 facilities on Grand Cayman.

“The amalgamation of staff and resources will result in improvement of services to the public and cost savings in a number of areas,” Mr. Jones he explained.

“For instance, if RPCU needs a flatbed truck or their bobcat is out of service, they will be able to access these from PWD. Similarly, PWD frequently rents backhoes. RPCU has a backhoe and PWD will be able to reduce the volume of backhoe rentals by utilizing RPCU’s equipment. RPCU can also draw from the wealth of human capital that PWD has and vice versa,” Mr. Jones added.

It is estimated that savings to Government in the order of $270,000 per annum will result from the merger. These will result from:

a)        PWD’s existing finance and management structure will take on part of the finance and management work currently carried out by RPCU employees thereby allowing three RPCU employees to be transferred to other areas of Government where vacancies presently exist.

b)        Savings in utilities and other “office” type costs as RPCU will no longer need to maintain separate offices. They will work from the existing PWD office / compound.

c)         Savings in private sector equipment rentals due to PWD and RPCU utilizing each other’s equipment thereby reducing the amount of private sector rentals.

d)        Savings and increased capacity through better utilization of PWD and RPCU labour due to the synergies of the two entities working together.

The Project 1 review is being carried out by Chief Officers Dr. Dax Basdeo, Eric Bush and Alan Jones) (assisted by support staff from several government departments.) They will make recommendations regarding merging, consolidating or altering the services of agencies in order to better align their work with their mandates.

“In some cases this project may entail eliminating duplication with the outputs of other existing departments. We must reduce the administrative cost of doing business in the Cayman Islands,” Hon Franz Manderson stated recently.

“I congratulate the Premier Hon Juliana O’Connor-Connolly and the Ministry of Finance-District Administration, Works, Lands and Agriculture for taking the lead in this initiative. The amalgamation will no doubt improve service, increase efficiency and reduce the cost of doing business: This is the aim of Project 1,” Mr. Manderson stated.