By Nikos Nikolaou - Kathimerini

Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis must be feeling guilty for not holding true to his pre-election promise to reinvent state services.

To be sure, this state is a mechanism which most people view as incompetent and corrupt at best, hustling citizens with red tape, colluding with big business and discouraging serious private investors who would otherwise contribute to economic development.

In fact, this state is a monster with so many heads that it will take Herculean efforts to tame (besides the main public utilities, it includes some 350-400 other minor agencies and organizations).

Therefore, the really important thing seems to be whether this government is at least taking steps toward limiting red tape and waste in the public sector so that citizens may feel hopeful that the promise will become reality in the long term, helping the country move forward.

The premier’s recent decision to assign to his two top ministers, Giorgos Alogoskoufis (economy and finance) and Prokopis Pavlopoulos (interior), the task of carrying out a thorough appraisal of the public sector and make recommendations is an important step in this direction. He has asked them to recommend the closure of those public organizations that do not offer any important services to citizens, the merger of any with similar activities, and their integration with state departments active in the same fields.

“Many of these organizations, particularly some that are subsidiaries of OTE telecom, the Public Power Corporation and ATEbank, cover specific needs of the economy,” said Alogoskoufis. “But there are also many others that have been overcome by developments and keeping them in operation is a burden to the economy and a waste of taxpayers’ money. It is these that we shall recommend for closure to the prime minister.”

The Finance Ministry will set the example, beginning with the Public Portfolio Management Company (DEKA) and the Public Surplus Equipment Organization (ODDY), he said.

But problems quickly emerge. The other ministries that were instructed to submit lists of organizations under their jurisdiction which should be shut down or be merged turned a deaf ear. And this stance reveals the political dimension of the problem. Ministers practically treat these organizations like they are part of their feudal domains, hanging on to them to appoint proteges and enhance their electoral base.

The long list of such organizations whose tasks remain obscure includes, amazingly, three state companies for the Corinth Canal. It is unclear why these companies are needed, since the canal is managed by a private company.

Karamanlis has set a deadline for the reforms and Pavlopoulos tells Kathimerini that the government’s resolve to cut down waste in the public sector is non-negotiable.

“We are implementing a plan to limit state waste and the bloated public sector by restructuring public services to make them more functional and efficient,” he said.

“It goes without saying that in such cases we shall not touch in the least the employment status and the rights of staff serving in these agencies. These reforms are combined with the introduction of a modern system of indices for measuring the efficiency of public departments, for a substantial upgrading of the quality of services,” he added.