COMMUNICATIONS AND CORRESPONDENCE
Letters from Permanent Secretaries and Heads of Departments
1100. (a) Letters and memoranda from Permanent Secretaries and Heads of Departments
should, in all cases, be signed.
(b) Communications addressed to the Secretary for the Public Service must
be sent through the Head of Department. If this procedure is not observed,
the communication will be returned to the writer.
(C) Permanent Secretaries and heads of Departments shall forward communications
from Officers addressed through them to the Secretary for the Public Service
and must state their own opinion and recommendations on the subject matter.
(d) The general form which correspondence should take is :-
(i) References to previous correspondences.
(ii) The subject matter of the communication
(iii) A brief outline of the history of the subject.
(iv) The points on which a decision is required and the ground on which
such a decision might be based.
(v) A statement of the alternative solutions and a definite recommendation
as to which, in the opinion of writer is he most appropriate solution.
(vi) If appropriate, the name substantive post and EDP No. of the Officer
being written on should be stated.
(e) In general, the use of enclosures should be avoided. When addressing the
Permanent Secretary or Head of Department on a matter on which there has been
previous correspondence, copies of the correspondence should not generally
be forwarded but the facts contained therein should be summarized. This does
not apply to memoranda of a technical nature, or in cases where an original
document must be forwarded.
(f) All letters and memoranda should be divided into numbered paragraphs and
dated with the date on which they are signed for despatch.
(g) A letter or memorandum must deal with one subject wherever possible.
(h) Enclosures in languages other than English must be accompanied by a translation
where possible.
(i) Reference to the Laws of Fiji should give the chapter number, also the
number of the section or regulation concerned.
(j) Whenever information or advice can be obtained by telephone/facsimile,
this medium should be used in order to save time. Rulings on substantive issues
must be obtained in writing.
Franking Envelopes
1101. (a) Franking of letters and other documents and packets must be confined
to purely official matters.
(b) An Officer who unlawfully franks letters, other documents and packets
which
renders himself liable to disciplinary action.
Fiji Public Service Official Circular
1102. The Public Service Official Circular is published bi-monthly. All vacancies
to be advertised in this Circular shall be submitted to the Secretary for
the Public Service on the prescribed form.
Fiji Republic Gazette
1103. (a) All Officers are required to make themselves acquainted with the
contents of the Gazette. The publication of any matter in the Gazette is regarded
as sufficient notification to Ministries and Departments. Permanent Secretaries
and Heads of Departments are to ensure that copies of the Gazette are accessible
to all Officers.
(b) All matters for publication in the Fiji Republic Gazette must be forwarded
to the Editor at Public Service Commission.
(c) The Government Printer is not authorized to publish in the Gazette any
material other than legal advertisements, which has not been endorsed by the
Editor.
(d) Matters for any issue of the Gazette must reach the Editor not later than
noon on Tuesday.
Audit and Treasury Queries
1104. (a) Audit and Treasury queries and correspondence must be dealt with
promptly.
(b) A record should be kept in the register prescribed by Finance Instructions
of the dates of receipt of queries and of the dates on which they are returned
to the Auditor General and that there is uniformity in the filing and record
systems.
Departmental Correspondence
1105. (a) Permanent Secretaries or Heads of Departments are responsible for
establishing and maintaining effective filing and record systems.
(b) Each Head of Department must keep a personal file for each Officer in
his Department. in the event of an Officer' s transfer, it shall be the responsibility
of the Head of Department to arrange for the personal file to be transferred
to the Officer' s new Head of Department.
Matters Affecting More Than one Department
1106. (a) Matters which affect more than one Department should be examined
and decided departmentally in the first instance. Where it is necessary to
submit such matters for decision by a central authority, a joint expression
of views should be submitted. Where this is not possible, the separate views
of the Departments concerned, supported by technical or other memoranda if
necessary, should be provided.
(b) In cases where the matter concerns various Departments, copies of correspondence
should be distributed as may be appropriate
(c) Permanent Secretaries and Heads of Departments should send copies to Commissioners
of Divisions of all correspondence on points of importance with public bodies
and individual members of the public within their jurisdiction.
Departmental Annual Reports
1107. (a) Permanent Secretaries and Heads of Departments are required to
submit Annual Reports by February of the following year for tabling in Parliament.
Annual Reports must be prepared by all Departments and Ministries.
(b) The Report should be divided into two (2) parts. Part I should contain
a general account of the Ministries/Departments activities during the year
under review, describing any major achievements in some detail and referring
to progress in implementing Departmental policies and objectives as approved
by the Government during the year. This Part should be written and presented
in a simple way so as to encourage the public to read it, and thereby be informed
of, and to take interest in, the activities of the Department.
Correspondence with Other Governments
1110. Correspondence with other Governments is normally conducted by the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs but Permanent Secretaries or Heads of Departments
may, in their discretion, correspond with their counterparts in other countries
on professional or departmental matters, not involving matters of principle
or policy.
Printing and Stationery
1111. (a) (i) All order for printing and stationery should be addressed to
the Government Printer or Controller of Government Supplies where appropriate.
(ii) Purchases of stationery from any other source must be made in compliance
with printing requisition, procedure and instructions issues by the Government
Printer.
(iii) The cost of any purchase contrary to this instruction may be chargeable
personally to the Officer responsible.
(b) Government stationery must be used for official purposes only.
(c) Any printed form required must be cleared by the Secretary for the Public
Service before the order misplaced with the Government Printer. The Government
Printer is authorized to exercise his discretion to undertake any requisition
which he considers unreasonable.
Telegrams, Facsimile and Telex
1112. (a) Use of official telegrams, fax and telex should be approved only
by the head of Department or by an Officer duly authorized by him, and shall
be sent only in cases of urgency where the subject matter is of such importance
that it cannot be dealt with by post without causing loss or serious inconvenience
to the Public Service. Wherever possible air mail facilities should be employed
instead of telegrams.
Trunk Telephone Calls
1113. (a) Office telephone should be used for official purpose only. Official
should be as brief as possible.
(b) Telephone must not be used by Officers to private purposes.
(c) The Permanent Secretary or Head of Department will have the right to question
the authority for any official trunk telephone call, and if, he decided that
such call to be on private and personal business, the Officer responsible
will be required o meet the cost of the cost of the call.
Mail
1114 (a) Permanent Secretaries and Heads of Departments should authorize an
Officer who is not in charge of cash or collection of revenue to open all
official mails.
(b) All correspondence shall, immediately after opening, be registered in
an Inward Letter Register and life reference to be noted. A note shall be
made in the register in red ink of any letters containing, money, money order
or cheques. Registered letters, not containing money, should be similarly
noted.
(c) Subject to any special directions which may be given by the Permanent
Secretary or Head of Department, the Officer opening the mail shall see that
a Revenue Receipt is issued the same day for any money, or valid Money order
or valid Cheque received in the mail, and the number of the Revenue Receipt
issued should be noted in the Inward Letter Register against the relative
entry. Regular checks should be made by responsible officers other than those
handling cash to ensure that the receipt quoted have in fact been accounted
for in the Cash Book.
1115. Fijian spelling should be used in all official documents. A note should
be included in documents likely to be read overseas or by visitors to Fiji,
giving the phonetic equivalent of those letters pronounced in a different
way to normal English usage, for example :-
B= 'mb' as in number eg. LABASA : Lambasa
C= "th" as in that eg. CAKAU : Thakau
D= "nd" as in end eg. NADI : Nandi
G= "ng" as in sing eg. SIGATOKA : Singatoka
Q= "ngq" as in finger eg. YAQONA :Yanqona