Public Service Dedication Service
Dedication and Commitment was the main message to all Public Servants by the Public Service Minister Hon. Joe Sungi. Minister Sungi used the dedication service to reiterate the call to public servants to take stock of simple things like being on time, clocking in at 7.45am and clocking out at 4.06pm.
The Public Service Minister was blunt in his message calling on all public servants to be productive, ensure they produce quality work and that they are reliable. The Minister posed a lot of questions to the many public servants who turned up for the dedication service at the Sir John Guise Indoor complex challenging them to ensure they are punctual and that they conduct themselves in a manner fitting for a public servant.
“If you are not working according to the public service hours – then you are a thief. The time is now for PNG to wake up and the wakeup call starts with civil servants”. Minister Sungi said the program is timely. “We cannot do things alone if we don’t have God in our lives”. “Let us change the negative image of the Public Service into positive with pride and people can see that we can prove that we can do better”.
The Public Service Minister in his statement called for dedication and commitment by all public servants. He also revealed that he will be working together with the Special Parliamentary Committee on Public Sector Reforms to look into how Public Servants can own property and hire car companies when they are only public servants.
“We will be putting in preventative measures to reprimand public servants who abuse their positions to enrich themselves. Prime Minister Hon. James Marape who delivered the key note address outlined a number of his governments achievements and policy initiatives they have undertaken whilst in office.
When speaking about the Pubic Service Mr Marape said, public service in Waigani is too hierarchical, cumbersome and has too many systematic impediments. He said, it needed to be made lighter, better, smaller effective and efficient – instead of having too many bosses.
He further stated that rural PNG needs to be filled with qualified public servants in order to get on with the business of serving our country. “Let’s shift the excess head and bloated fat from Waigani to the rural areas. I have had the privilege of visiting many of our districts and it breaks my heart to see public servants working very hard in the rural areas with no support from Waigani”.
He called on all public servants to pay respect to front liners like teachers, police officers, HEO’s working alongside missionaries in the rural areas. The Prime Minister also reiterated the call by the Public Service Minister Mr Sungi to eliminate a system of public servants who get benefits for themselves by using their positions. We will put in place better incentives for public servants if they are
In closing— Prime Minister Marape said, there must be no room for complacency and corruption. “I will work towards making ICAC to be fully established”. He said, these are 2 of the cancers that affect our system. Hon. Marape said, we must have a public service that eliminates asking for favours as public servants and clients of the state. He said, the country’s future is dependent upon what we do today. He called on all public servants to rise up and be committed and that the government will honour its end of the bargain. “It is you and I who will make things happen for this country and no one else.