CIVIL servants need to be responsive, particularly to those in rural areas, says Acting Prime Minister Professor Biman Prasad.
Responding to concerns from landowners in Bua who raised earlier this week about services of the Ministry of Forestry officials in Labasa, Prof Prasad said Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka and Cabinet ministers expected civil servants to be responsive and to serve the people.
He acknowledged lapses in the civil service provided by some government ministries.
“We support the landowners’ view that we need to be very responsive, agile, and receptive to complaints and requests from our communities. It is the job of civil servants to do that,” Prof Prasad said.
He said while issues do arise, the majority of ministers and civil servants are committed to serving the public effectively.
However, he said, most government officials continue to respond well to public concerns.
“There may be instances of lapses, that happens all the time but generally, I think we are doing a lot of good work responding to people’s concerns,” he said.
