The National Overview Committee (NOC), which oversees the implementation of the Public Sector Reform Programme, has initiated a comprehensive survey and strategy to move Public Sector Salaries closer to those in the private sector.

The outcome of the study, which seeks to motivate and enhance public sector workers' performance, would be made known to the public once the exercise was completed.

Mr Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey, Minister of Presidential Affairs and Chief of Staff, announced this at a two-day national planning workshop for Phase II of the Public Sector Management Reform Programme (PSMRP) in Accra on Wednesday.

Initiated in December 1994, the Reform Programme is to define a new vision and role for the public service as a means of promoting efficiency, effectiveness, good customer relationship and accountability.

It involves downsizing staff levels and transferring the affected workers to alternative employment areas where they would be relevant.

Mr Obetsebi-Lamptey said the government's success in its drive for a strong private sector led economy could only be attained on the back of an empowered and well-motivated public sector.

"There is the need to change the public sector worker's attitude from a reactionary to a positive contributor to national development goals," he said and added that the government would do anything it could to train and enhance the capacity of public sector workers.

Mr Obetsebi-Lamptey underlined the government's commitment to continue with the Reform programmes, which he said, was in line with its own development goals and aspirations of achieving accelerated growth with equity and to promote good governance.

"I am glad to inform you that the NOC is satisfied with progress made so far by the reform programme in the last eight months."

The government, he said, has the opportunity to build into the next phase of the programme initiatives that would support the realisation of its vision for the Public Sector.

These initiatives were good governance, capacity development and utilisation for sound policy formulation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation and improved service delivery."This opportunity, I promise, we shall utilise to the best of our ability in the interest of the nation and we will not allow it to slip by." Mr Obetsebi-Lamptey mentioned the modernisation of the Office of the President, the restructuring of the Ministry of Women Affairs and the creation of a one-stop agency for land administration to save individual and corporate investors time as priority areas that the government would want included in the reform.

The Minister called for continuous co-operation and support of the country's development partners of reforming the Civil Service and government machinery at both the central and local government levels.

He emphasised the need for additional funding and technical assistance to implement both old and new projects under the PSMRP in the next phase of the reforms. Mr Obetsebi Lamptey conveyed Vice President Alhaji Aliu Mahama's desire to the participants to approve new initiatives only after outstanding projects had been executed or at least arrangements made to complete them.

Vice-President Mahama is NOC's chairman.

Some of the projects NOC would like to be completed under the Phase II included the University of Ghana, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Ghana News Agency and Ghana Broadcasting Corporation.

Mr Obetsebi-Lamptey drew the World Bank's attention to some difficulties in its procurement procedures and inadequate information sharing on projects.