Acting tourism minister Irfaan Ali urged staff at the Guyana National Bureau of Standards (GNBS) to continue to aim for the highest levels of transparency, at a ceremony held to honour long serving employees.
According to a Government Information Agency (GINA) press release, nine employees were recognised for long service last week, including Executive Director (ag) Evadne Enniss who has been at the agency for 15 years.
At the Annual Long Service Award Ceremony held recently Marcelle Browne-Peters and Allison Nelson were honoured for giving 25 years of service each. Saheed Alli, Hubert Braithwaithe and Dhanpat Ramlakan who each served for 15 years; and Andrew Kertzious, Quincy Gibson and Susheelwantie Ramnauth who served for five years, were also honoured.
In his remarks, the minister said the ceremony is significant as it celebrates the value of the employees’ contributions. Ali said it also commemorates their role in transforming and building the organisation, and their commitment and dedication to the Guyanese people and the organisation. “Many times when you come to work in an organisation you will hear that you have to put aside your personal goal, your personal belief … for your organisation goal, your organisation belief, today you have a chance to celebrate your individual accomplishment, your contribution to the organisation,” he said.
Ali also noted the hands-on role that the Bureau of Standards has been taking in the tourist industry. “I am particularly happy with the role this organisation is playing, in not only being a reactive organisation but transforming itself into a very proactive organisation,” he said, adding that “an organisation would have to understand the development priorities of the country and equip itself with the necessary human, financial and infrastructure resources to meet the changes in our economy, the changes in [life] style and the changes in our country.”
According to the minister, the GNBS is one of the most important organisations as Guyana seeks to increase export potential, expand the agriculture base, diversify the economy and attract more tourists. It has been particularly active over the last eight months in the tourism ministry’s recent campaign to regulate the sector in terms of food, hotel and utilities standards and “as upscale in terms of its publicity, in terms of its media interaction and in terms of public understanding of what we do and why we do it.” He further charged the staff to make meaningful changes to ensure that the bureau works at the highest, most accountable, and most transparent standard and that it can execute, without fear or favour and to the benefit of local and international consumers.
In her remarks, Ennis urged the staff to celebrate their achievements. “We have come a long way and there is no turning back, we can only move to steps higher up,” she said, adding that staff should not settle for mediocrity. “Stay on. Extend your years of service and look back in your lives and be satisfied that you would have made a contribution to your country,” she said.
