Antiquities department overstaffed — report

AMMAN – The Department of Antiquities (DoA) is overstaffed and has a number of employees whose qualifications are irrelevant to their jobs, according to a report prepared by the Ministry of Public Sector Development. 

Conducted by experts from the ministry, the Civil Service Bureau and the General Budget Department, the report also indicated that certain jobs in the department do not suit some regulatory units and should be cancelled or their holders should be transferred to other units.

The analysis on the human resources situation at the DoA is one of a series of reports conducted by the Public Sector Development Ministry as part of a project to analyse whether government employees match the duties and responsibilities of their agencies.

The type of actual jobs needed in the department should be related to its work in terms of specialisation and technical skills, Public Sector Development Minister Khleef Al Khawaldeh commented in the report, which was made available to The Jordan Times on Saturday. 

The minister noted that the report includes recommendations to develop the performance of the department, explaining that a clear mechanism is needed to identify the role of both the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities and the DoA in administering historical sites in the Kingdom. 

The DoA needs to adopt electronic and Internet systems because its services mainly target the field of scientific research, Khawaldeh added. 

The DoA is facing a shortage of 21 skilled people to fill jobs that match the department’s duties and nature of work, the report said. 

The project to match human resources with the duties of government departments is part of an executive plan to develop public sector performance for 2014-2016, which aims at reshaping the government sector to become more qualified and efficient, according to Khawaldeh.