We Will Do Better

MEDIA RELEASE

As we approach the beginning of 2017 I would like to express, on behalf of the Ministry of Public Administration and Communications, our sincerest thanks to you for your patience, and your commitment to the development of a modernized, more efficient and customer friendly public service.

I am aware that we have not always lived up to your expectations, and for that, I wish also to extend my profound apologies. I give you the assurance that greater efforts are being made to improve the quality of service delivered to you in 2017.

Over the last year we achieved some notable successes which served to provide further encouragement that we are indeed on the right track in terms of fulfilling our mandate to you:

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  • We introduced a free Wi-Fi service on selected PTSC bus routes;
  • We completed the evaluation of CNMG and GISL and will be moving shortly to implement long term plans for both organisations;
  • We renegotiated with Microsoft a new Enterprise Agreement that will save you the tax payers approximately $75 million over the three-year duration of the agreement;
  • We began full occupation of the long-neglected Government Campus Plaza and One Alexandra Place;
  • And more recently, we launched a public campaign to deter the illegal use and sale of scratch bombs, among many other things.
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Over the course of the coming year, you will see a number of other initiatives designed to enhance both the image of the public service and the quality of service we deliver. There is no doubt that 2017 will be a challenging year for all of us.

The reduced budgetary allocations have caused us to become more creative in our approach to public sector spending, but it has also allowed us the opportunity to identify areas where we were previously inefficient, or where we could have been more fiscally prudent. Necessity is truly the mother of invention, for in all cases, we have had to learn again how to do more with less.

In 2017 I promise that we will be more imaginative, we will be more flexible, and we will be more adaptable to the changing needs of you, our customers. We will aim to deliver a better quality service, in a much shorter time frame as we make greater use of the technology that is available to us. We are very much aware that it is you who pay our salaries, indeed, you have told us so on many occasions, and so we promise to make ourselves much more accountable to you, our employers.

On behalf of the entire Ministry of Public Administration and Communications, I wish you and your families, best wishes for the end of 2016, and God’s richest blessings for a productive and prosperous 2017.