REMARKS BY
RT. HON. HUBERT A. INGRAHAM
PRIME MINISTER
NINTH ANNUAL PUBLIC SERVICE WEEK AND RECOGNITION OF RETIREES
CHURCH SERVICE OF THANKSGIVING
CHRIST COMMUNITY CHURCH, BELLOT ROAD
11:00 A.M. SUNDAY, 5TH OCTOBER 2008
Reverend Deanza Cunningham,
Members of Christ Community Church,
Senior Public Officers,
Retired Public Officers,
Special Honourees,
I wish firstly to thank Rev. Cunningham and the membership of Christ Community Church for inviting us join them in their Sunday worship as we mark the beginning of our 9th Public Service Week.
I am happy to thank public officers for their many years of dedicated service, recognize officers nominated for the National Public Officer of the Year award and place renewed emphasis on the importance of improving the level of our service to the public.
Some 221 individuals retired from the Public Service during the 2007/2008 year. The majority having completed 30 or more years of service, which is no small accomplishment.
Thirteen public officers have been selected by their respective Ministries and Departments for outstanding and exemplary performance during the past year.
The theme for this year’s Public Service Week, “Improving the Delivery of Quality Customer Service,” appears to be a challenge today; it used to be the hallmark of public service. The retirees we honour today know of what I speak; so also do our nominees for Public Officer of the Year. In their working years they have lived by and honoured the precept: an honest day’s work for an honest day’s pay.
Some of them started out at the lower end of the Service and worked their way through the ranks. They were willing to attend evening classes, they were courteous; they were disciplined, they respected authority, and they were not afraid of hard work.
Sadly, these core characteristics are not in abundant supply in our society today; and unhappily, this is reflected in our public service which mirrors our society.
In an effort to improve this, we engaged in this annual exercise during which we hold up for emulation the achievement of our best.
Our aim must be to achieve and maintain a high level of individual and collective performance.
We must continue to position The Bahamas, not only to maintain our economic status, but also to adapt to any number of unexpected eventualities in the world’s economy, such as that being experienced now.
I congratulate this year’s retirees, all of whom have made significant contributions in their respective areas over many years. Their dedication and commitment on behalf of the Bahamian people are indeed highly appreciated.
I should also like to thank all serving public officers for their continued commitment and I encourage each of you to make quality service your hallmark and in so doing bring high praise to your profession and to your country.
Finally, I congratulate the members of the Public Service Week Committee for all the work they have done and I trust that their efforts will make this year’s observance a great success.
Thank you.