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Anguilla: Workshops Aim at a Better Public Service |
| Source: |
anguillian.com |
| Source Date: |
Monday, November 15, 2010 |
| Country: |
United States |
| Created: |
Nov 15, 2010 |
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The people of Anguilla will have reason to demand better service from
senior Government employees following two one-week Public Administration
Law Workshops at Masara Resort, Katouche Bay, from November 8-19.
The first of the workshops, for Senior Public Officers, commenced on
Monday this week with the welcome and opening remarks by Director, Human
Resource Management, Public Administration, Mrs. Lana
Horsford-Harrigan. She said that in the current economic context the
public service was expected to achieve better performance levels, using
fewer resources, while providing higher quality service to the
Anguillian community.
She stated that funding and technical support for the workshops were
provided by the Commonwealth Secretariat through its technical
cooperation fund. She credited the workshops to the efforts of Permanent
Secretary, Ms. Aurjul Wilson, who attended the regional Workshop in
Public Administration Law in Antigua towards the end of last year.
“The workshops are indeed timely and relevant, given the phenomenal
growth and importance of Public Administrative Law and the ever-growing
need to affect good administration, by paying close observance to the
tenets of administrative justice,” she said. Mrs. Horsford-Harrigan
noted that each of the two workshops would be attended by some 32 Senior
Public Officers.
In his brief remarks, Governor Alistair Harrison said that the
Commonwealth Secretariat had made an important contribution to Anguilla
over the years. He wished all the participants and the facilitators two
very successful workshops.
The first workshops were declared open by Deputy Governor Stanley Reid,
who has responsibility for the public service. He said that as of
October 31, 2010, there were 1,285 established positions in the Anguilla
public service, with 1,222 positions now filled. He named the senior
posts in the Governor’s Office, Attorney General’s Chambers, various
ministries and departments, whose holders were required to interact with
elected officials, corporate entities, NGOs and members of the general
public.
“A lack of clarity or understanding of the rules of engagement, for
those of us who make our living offering service to the public, can be
very costly to the Government, to us as individuals and the people of
Anguilla,” Mr. Reid continued. “The many demands placed on public
servants come from inside and outside the government structure and are
certainly not always reasonable. On one side, you have political leaders
who may not be conscious of the responsibility that is placed on them,
or officers, by the laws of the lands. On the other side, we have
members of the public, who are sometimes controlled solely by the
realisation of their personal desire. In order to allow us to respond to
the varied demands placed on us, in an impartial … manner, our actions
and responses are circumscribed by the rules, regulations and laws which
include administrative laws. These laws are designed to ensure
integrity in the administration of our duties and fairness to those we
serve in the execution of our duties.”
Mr. Reid advised the senior public servants that it was prudent to
remember that their actions and decisions might one day have to be
explained where they might be subjected to scrutiny. “In such
circumstances, where there has been adherence to the laws, rules and
regulations which govern our conduct, we can be comfortable in the
knowledge that we can withstand the most robust scrutiny.”
The Deputy Governor continued: “Many government ministries and
departments regularly process applications for licences… Do we adhere to
the principles enunciated by the administrative law when processing
these applications? Or applications for permanent residence, business
licences, naturalization, among others, processed within the time frame
mandated by the governing law? Where time frames are not stipulated by
the governing law, do we allow applications to languish on our desks…for
months, or even years, without making a determination as to whether the
application is approved or denied?”
Mr. Reid, who also made reference to customs matters, advised the senior
public servants to make every effort to have these and other questions
answered during the course of the two weeks. He highly commended the
Commonwealth Secretariat for responding favourably to Anguilla’s request
for instruction and, in some instances, a refresher course in
administrative law.
The facilitators for the workshops are Dr. Roger Koranteng, Governance
Adviser & Institutional Development Division, Commonwealth
Secretariat; Dr. Hal Gollop, Lecturer in Public Law in the Faculty of
Law, University of the West Indies, Cave Hill; Dr. Adeyemi Ogunmefun,
Programme Officer Governance & Institutional Development,
Commonwealth Secretariat, who will be joining the second workshop; and
the local co-facilitator is Anguillian Dr. Wycliffe Fahie, Principal
Assistant Secretary, Ministry of Finance and holder of a law degree. Dr.
Fahie specialises in economics and finance, with proficiency in
international relations, organizational behaviour, public policy and
business.
Dr. Korenteng said the Commonwealth Secretariat was re-affirming the
special bond of trust, respect and understanding shared by all 54-member
developing and developing nations, comprising two billion people,
constituting 30% of the world’s population. He said that the shared
values and principles included democracy, good governance, human rights,
the rule of law, respect, peace and security.
“The Governance and Institutional Development Division of the
Commonwealth Secretariat, in collaboration with the Government of
Anguilla, is pleased to organise these five-day workshops in two
batches; and this is being done under the Commonwealth Fund for
Technical Cooperation,” he said.
“The main objective of the workshops is to capacitate senior public
officers to understand the major principles of administrative law and
its relevance with respect to Anguilla’s national context. It is also to
make senior public officers understand the roles and functions of
public administrative systems and the procedures that govern their
operation. The importance of accountability and transparency in public
service, and the need for ethics and integrity in the daily activities
of public servants, …have become more imperative and the general public
would like to see an effective and efficient public sector.
“The public sector now, more than ever before, has become very critical,
as a prime mover, to move the governmental agenda forward. This calls
for prudent management of national resources, more human than financial.
Public servants having been entrusted with power and resources, must
manage the power and resources in the interest of people.” He added that
public accountability, transparency, integrity and high ethical
standards were very important in the public sector.
The Vote of Thanks was delivered by Mrs. Charmaine Rogers, Deputy Director, Human Resource Management, Public Administration.
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