GOVERNMENT TO HONOUR FIFTY OUTSTANDING PUBLIC OFFICERS More Opportunities For Promotion For Public Servants In The Future

MEDIA RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

24 May, 2012

 

GOVERNMENT TO HONOUR FIFTY OUTSTANDING PUBLIC OFFICERS

 

More Opportunities For Promotion For Public Servants In The Future Government will mark the 50th Anniversary of the national Public Service by honouring 50 outstanding public officers at a gala ceremony on Public Service Day, June 23rd this year. At the same time Government will present its vision for modernizing the Public Service to improve service delivery to citizens.

This was revealed by Public Administration Minister, Carolyn Seepersad-Bachan following last week’s Cabinet Meeting where it was agreed that the highlight of the nation’s 50th anniversary of independence and the birth of the public service will be a ceremony with the theme “From Gold to Diamond” which will recognize and reward 50 public officers who have served the nation with distinction over the past fifty years.

Minister Seepersad-Bachan said that her Ministry will use the opportunity of the Gala Event to present the Government’s vision for modernizing the Human Resource architecture of the civil service. She explained, “We will unveil the new structure of the Public Service. The theme is ‘Gold to Diamond’ because the Public Service would be structured as a Diamond.”

The Minister emphasized that there must be a strengthening of the centre of the Government because the present structure, which is shaped like a pyramid, is bottom heavy and that many people who perform lowlevel tasks are either qualified for work at the higher levels of the service or are prepared to undergo training to take advantage of the many opportunities for promotion now being opened up by the Government. She said, “We’re going to require more delegation of authority and devolution of decision-making in the Public Service. This requires strengthening the professional streams within the Public Service. The next level will be Management Support Officers. This will be the avenue for upward mobility for clerical officers and it will create the diamond shape that we see as the architecture of the future – a small group of administrators, a large group of professionals and managerial support services, and a diminishing number of low-level jobs mainly because of the opportunities for advancement that we will create.”

Expressing her empathy with many public officers, Minister Seepersad-Bachan said, “We are particularly pleased to present these opportunities for serving officers in the clerical and secretarial classes who are experiencing stagnation in their career paths while they look in frustration at the many contract opportunities that are going out in the Public Service.” The Minister promised to keep citizens, especially public officers, continuously informed about the transformation process.

In addition to the Gala on June 23rd 2012, there will be a 5K run on June 16 for public officers and their families and an Open House at the Waterfront Esplanade in Port-of-Spain from Monday June 18 – Friday June 22 (except on June 19, the Labour Day Holiday) and on Harris Promenade in San Fernando on Wednesday June 20. For further information, please call Ms. Anna-Lisa Gore at 625-6111 ext. 2084 or email communicationsdivision@mpa.gov.tt