Ammon News - AMMAN — Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour on Saturday said that hesitance, reluctance and absence of the spirit of initiative are among the major reasons behind the weary public administration.

Ensour explained that taking initiative, decisiveness, promptness and courageous yet responsible decision making need to be “resurrected” for a better public administration.

The premier made his remarks as he inaugurated the first Public Sector Leaders Forum, organised by the Ministry of Public Sector Development.

Ensour explained that “[government critics’] rhetoric dominated by accusation” has made leaders in the civil service hesitant in doing their job of taking administrative decisions.

“Not taking a decision is the worst decision,” he told his audience.

“In the past few months, it was painful for me to keep pushing some agencies to take decisions within their jurisdiction,” Ensour said, adding: “With such defeated spirit, the country will never improve.”

The premier did not cite example, but his remarks came days after authorities reportedly addressed the decades-long problem of unlicensed water wells, estimated at around 770, consuming a 100 million cubic a year and posing a real danger to underground water resources, according to officials.

According to local media reports, authorities have been implementing a campaign to stop the illegal pumping, while well owners have announced they are ready to legalise their wells and make it official, vowing to abide by the standards to be set by the Ministry of Water and Irrigation.

Ensour also commented on the delay of people’s transactions and services provided by civil service agencies, noting that some people “suffer when they report to a public department for a service or a transaction, a process that pointlessly costs them too much time and effort”.

“We must act as servants to people and not as their masters.” (The Jordan Times)