RETIREE’S BANQUET FREEPORT

13th October 2005
Our Lucaya, Freeport

It is certainly an honour and a privilege to be here this evening for the third time in my short time as Minister for the Public Service for the banquet to honour those who are retiring from the public service from the island of Grand Bahama, and to pay tribute to those who have given long service to the public service.

It was my honour this morning to address the leaders of the law enforcement arm of the public service at a special seminar that was organized by the Assistant Commissioner of Police Ellison Greenslade.  The idea was to share with them the work of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the other half of my portfolio.  I took the opportunity this morning to remind us that we who have the privilege to work in the public service are the glue that binds the country together.  When there is a national emergency, any emergency for that matter, whether large or small, the people of the country seek the immediate assistance of the public service in order to rectify the problem.

And so you who have served for many decades and years in the service, you who retire today have a grand story to tell.  It is a story of a magnificent institution, the public service.  It is the story of the 20,000 men and women, the largest single work force.  It is the story of men and women who have been given the privilege to serve, and who do serve in the main to the best of their abilities and God given talents.

I therefore want to thank Mrs. Laurie Bullard and her team for organizing this evening’s banquet to honour the outgoing members of the service and those of long service.  I want to say congratulations to all those who are being honoured here tonight.  I want to wish them all well as they move on to bigger and better things.

Those who are leaving us, bidding us farewell, I wish you could tell the story of what you have accomplished to the many young ones who are coming behind you.  How you were able to solve a problem for someone who was distressed?  Think of the teachers who were able to teach that young boy or girl how to read and write, and give them a sense of themselves that would take them through their life times.  Think of the nurses who help to heal the sick. Think of the persons who work in the courts who help to deliver justice.  Think of the police officers who help to protect the weak.  Tell the story of the customs officers and immigration officers who protect our border.  Tell the story of those who help to bring tourists to our shores.  Each of these persons is part of the wider public service, and it is their stories that deserve to be told.

Their children can also tell a story.  The stories they can tell are about the self esteem which their parents have in being civil servants, the influence that it brings, the contacts that it engenders.

My sister who is now a dentist in New York tells the story of how she was student and was late catching the plane back to New York from Nassau.  My mother was then the Private Secretary to the Minister of Transport who then had responsibility for the airports. Without thinking, she asked my sister if she wanted her to have the plane held so she could make the flight.  My sister was aghast but only slightly.  She agreed, and in a flash a telephone call was made, and she was able to make her plane.  Of course these days and in this climate things have changed but the story is illustrative of the influence that public servants strategically placed can have in many ways.

What we must always do, is to use our power and our influence for good.  We must use are power and influence to help people.  That is the story that we must also tell.  That the power and influence which comes with being a public servant must be used for good.  It must not be used to oppress or to laud it over others.  It must be used to lift up our friends and brothers and the people we serve.

I am happy this year to welcome to Freeport a representative of the Committee that organizes the national event to honour public servants, Colin Francis of the Department of the Public Service from Nassau.  I think it is important for the capital to have a representative at all of the various celebrations that take place to honour those who work in the public service.

There is no question about it then.  You have the assurance that the Prime Minister the Rt. Hon. Perry Christie and the entire Government join me in wishing all of those retirees well and thank the wider service for the years of good service to our country.  You are aware that right now negotiations are going on for a new industrial relations agreement.  I am happy with the pace of those negotiations. The public should not in anyway be rattled by some unfortunate noise which comes from some quarters.  That is all part of it.  The Government is committed to a reasonable package which the country can afford, so that those who work in the public service can take care of their families in dignity and with honour.  We all have come from the same humble beginnings and no one in the Government has forgotten from whence we came.

It is important also for me to say that those who are retired public servants should know that quiet shortly, the Government will take up the matter of pensions for retired public servants.  It has already been announced in the Finance Minister’s budget communication that we are committed to increasing pensions,  and we believe that the pension increase is due because those on fixed incomes suffer the most because of the changes in prices.   Those who are working can more easily adjust to the changes in prices but the retirees need and deserve some attention.  You should hear some news in this direction shortly.
Please allow me once again to extend congratulations to you all.  It is a privilege and honour to be the public service minister and I look forward to working with all of you in whatever time I have left in this job.

Thank you and God bless you all.