Windhoek — The deputy Minister of Finance Tjekero Tweya says there is an urgent need to review the Public Service Act because it is outdated and to some extent does not encourage effectiveness and efficiency.

Motivating Vote 9 of the Ministry of Finance in the National Assembly last week, Tweya said he fully supports the call by the chairperson of the Public Service Commission that the Public Service Act is long overdue for review. He noted that due to the current Act, disciplinary cases take a substantial amount of time to get resolved. The deputy minister said unresolved disciplinary cases result in low numbers of staff and positions that cannot be filled and thus there is low productivity due to less experienced, demoralized staff members who are overworked.

He added that the rules of the Public Service Commission do not complement productivity and accountability as staff members under suspension for fraud and theft are on long full-pay suspensions. Tweya said he hopes that the review will be done in the near future to emulate the Government's policy of efficacy and productivity.

Tweya revealed that N$800 million has been allocated for the Medical Aid Scheme Programme. He said currently, the programme caters for a total of 164 770 of which 71 285 are members, 85 732 dependants, 4 873 pensioners and 2 689 regional council members and staff. He added that N$23 million is allocated to the administrator of the Medical Aid Scheme Programme and the administrator is responsible for the overall supervision to ensure that the scheme is conducted within the framework of the Public Service Act.

Tweya also informed parliament that Cabinet has approved the establishment of a coordinating committee to assist the Ministry of Finance with the management of the scheme and will be responsible for, among others, monitoring medical claims, cost containment and improvement of benefits.

The coordinating committee will also ensure that rules and regulations of the medical aid scheme are followed and will mainly concentrate on revision of benefits and contribution to structure and governance issues. He added that the ministry is reviewing a new system of registering members and the issuing of cards. On capital projects, Tweya said the construction of the Wenela Border post in the Caprivi region is 84 percent complete. It will be inaugurated during the course of the year.

The Erongo region staff accommodation in Walvis Bay was completed last week Friday, while new projects include the construction of administrative offices in the Karas region. More offices will be constructed at Noordoewer border post, Ariamsvlei border post and the Keetmanshoop revenue office.