By Bae Ji-sook
Staff Reporter
From next year, ranking civil servants who are evaluated as ``incompetent'' twice will face dismissal, but those who receive higher evaluations will get rewards with incentives or early promotions.
In a report to President Lee Myung-bak, Monday, the Ministry of Public Administration and Security said that it will adopt such a carrot and stick policy to give bureaucrats a better sense of responsibility and get them to become more active in overcoming the current economic difficulties.
``Under the catchphrase of a small but strong government, we are going to strengthen personnel management in such a way as to weed out incompetent officials and compensate competent ones properly,'' a ministry spokesman said.
Currently, there are 1,504 ranking officials who are ``grade three'' in the wage system and subject to an annual evaluation.
To help boost the provincial economy, the government will spend 114 trillion won, or 60 percent of the 2009 budget, on the provinces in the first half of next year. The ministry reported to the president that it would create about 70,000 jobs in the public services sector in 2009.
At a meeting with four ministers over reviving the economy, President Lee made it clear that civil servants must take the lead to help pull the country out of the slump. ``Government officials must stand on the frontline to overcome the crisis,'' Lee said.
For its part, the Ministry of Environment also pledged to create more jobs to inject vitality into the local market. Dubbed as the ``Green New Deal'' policy, the government aims to create as many as 43,000 jobs.
Refurbishing four rivers ㅡ Han, Yeoungsan, Nakdong, Geum ㅡ and improving their water quality, as well as developing 10 models for eco-tourism, will also be part of the 3.3 trillion won-blockbuster project, the ministry said.
Recording carbon footprints, setting up a database of carbon emissions for local administrations, and giving out low-emission incentives will also be pushed from next year.
``We are also aiming to become a top-five developed country in the environmental sector by 2020,'' a ministry spokesman said.