Public must be treated with more respect

Minister of State, Joseph Harmon, who has responsibility for the Public Service yesterday called on the Permanent Secretaries, Heads and Regional Executive Officers of Ministries, Departments and regions, to ensure that members of the public are treated with more respect and courtesy.
He also urged that they be provided with an efficient service as the Government continues to invest in the development of the public service and the quality of service it is able to provide, a release from the Ministry of the Presidency said.
The Minister, who was at the time speaking to participants of a three-day retreat and workshop at the Splashmins Eco Park, hosted by the Department of Public Service and Ministry of the Presidency for upper management staff of agencies, departments, Ministries and regional bodies, said that as the training concludes, it is his hope that the knowledge that has been imparted will result in greater efficiency.
“This programme must be more than a souvenir because it contains information that encapsulates your roles and mission as Permanent Secretaries, as Regional Officers, as Heads of Departments and Heads of Commissions. It is my fervent hope and wish that you leave here with a keen understanding of your role as change agents leading the way for the establishment of a new culture and work ethic… setting high standards of efficiency and accountability in the delivery of service,” Harmon said.
The State Minister told the participants that they must begin to influence their staff to understand that their duties are to serve and deliver a high quality of service to the Guyanese public. “We are their servants. We are the public service. We are not public masters. We must understand that the people who come to you, come to our offices, are our masters. These are the people you were employed to serve… Treat the public with the courtesy and respect that they deserve as the masters of us,” he urged.
He added, “I don’t want to know which party you voted for. That isn’t a requirement on your application form. It requires of you, a certain level of integrity, of competence and confidence in the job, which you are going to do. This process of having a fresh look at the public service started with the Commission of Inquiry. The Commission made 89 recommendations and set out a menu of measures for fashioning the public service. This training is a part of that menu of measures and when you leave here, what you do with this training, when you go back to your Ministries and regions is what will determine how we move forward. You are the key to the establishment of this new culture. You are the flag bearers and the ones to set the tones and example”.
Leslie Wilburg, Regional Executive Officer for the Barima-Waini Region (Region One), in an invited comment, said that the training was informative and will go a long way in improving the lives of the residents.
“Well it has better equipped me to be one of the change agents and to help Guyanese to realise the President’s wish that we all enjoy a good life. It has made me more confident in my role and it has given me enough knowledge which I can impart on my staff so that we can form a team to tackle the activities of the region and make life more comfortable for the residents there,” Wilburg said.