The disposal of government property : an appraisal of policy, organisation and procedures

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to examine the structure and operations of the Government Property Division (GPD) and provide an appraisal of the effectiveness or otherwise, of its policies, the organisation and procedures. This study has found that the Government Property Division has been active in undertaking organisational restructuring, removing overlapping roles and making better use of staff resources. The Division has also implemented a number of changes to the policies and laws applicable to Government property management. All these actions were addressed towards ensuring that the Division provides a valid contribution for a better public service. A number of internal operations and procedures were also revisited and streamlined for an improved service delivery. This study makes reference and explains a number of these initiatives. This study has also found that there are a number of areas where more needs to be done to improve the efficiency of the property management/disposal process. It also puts forward a number of recommendations to assist the Division in addressing the additional challenges identified in this study. These include the need to build on the strengths and capabilities of existing staff, the development of a strategy to capture institutional knowledge, a change in the Division’s Information Technology strategy, the migration of ex-Church property data to the Division’s central property system so as to enable rent billing and accounting, and finally the opportunity to further amalgamate a number of sections so as to create synergies and save on resources.