KOROR (Palau Horizon) – Minister Jackson Ngiraingas has cleared the status of Bureau of Public Works employee Desiu Ngirkelau saying that the latter is still an employee of the Bureau and he was not hired illegally.
Ngiraingas in an interview on Wednesday said that Ngirkelau’s so called termination was pre-mature and improper because he did not approve the performance rating of Bureau of Public Works Director Techur Rengulbai.
A document revealed that Rengulbai reviewed Ngirkelau’s performance and gave him an unsatisfactory rating.
Ngiraingas said he did not approve the performance rating because there was no document attached that would explain why Ngirkelau’s performance was unsatisfactory.
Attorney General Ernestine Rengiil wrote a letter to Ngiraingas on June 30 and stated that Ngirkelau’s performance evaluation will prove that he did not successfully complete his initial probation period and may not be converted to permanent appointment status.
The AG in her letter stated that Ngirkelau’s employment officially ended on February 19 and if the Ministry requires the services of Ngirkelau in a different position, he needs to apply for the position.
However Ngiraingas said that Ngirkelau does not have to apply because as far as he is concerned he was not terminated from his job and he has been continuously working as a public safety officer.
The Minister said that Ngirkelau is still working at the Bureau and is reporting directly to him.
He added that he also wrote a letter to Vice President Kerai Mariur who is also the Minister of Finance to correct Ngirkelau’s status.
The Minister said he see nothing wrong in Ngirkelau’s performance.
“He is doing well in his job. He is working hard and he did nothing wrong that’s why I told him to just continue working,” the Minister said.
He added there is a group of people within the Bureau that wanted Ngirkelau out because he is the only one who knows that these people are doing irregularities in the Bureau.
“The only reason why these people wants him out is he’s the only one watching them. Ngirkelau knows that they are not working and that they are doing some illegal activities so they want to kick him out. I’m doing now an investigation to all of these reports,” Ngiraingas said.
