Christina Scott
I wanted to add to add my support to the message from the Deputy Governor marking UN International Public Service Day, which took place earlier this week. As his article makes clear, the day “aims to celebrate the value and virtue of service to the community”.
The concept of ‘service’ here is a crucial one. All of us who hold public office – whether as officials, politicians, on the boards of public corporations, as police, educators, carers or as providers of other front-line public services – do so on behalf of people we serve: the public.
At the core of our service should be the values that underpin public service: equality, fairness, impartiality and upholding the rule of law. The most effective public servants are those that are proactive, responsive and dynamic, who accept personal responsibility to influence positively the delivery of public services in Anguilla, and are willing to be held accountable for their work. They accept that not everything will always go to plan, but learn from when things do go wrong, listen to what their customers are saying, and use that to deliver a better service in the future.
Those are high standards, but essential if we are to provide effective public services to the most vulnerable in society, to our children, our elderly, in support of our businesses and economy, and to make our overseas visitors feel warmly welcome.
As the Deputy Governor rightly suggests, anyone who is paid a salary funded by the taxpayer is in a fortunate position. So if we are more focussed on protecting our turf and position, or hiding officiously behind a uniform, or bending rules to assist our friends, then we have lost sight of the bigger picture: we have put ourselves first, and not the people who fund us, and who we are here to serve, and that means we have let down Anguilla.
So I would like to thank those individuals in public service in Anguilla who work, sometimes in testing circumstances, to deliver services to the public. I know, from my visits to schools, care homes and elsewhere, and in my daily interactions with public servants on matters of policy, that there are many unsung heroes who provide service with love and conscientiousness. Let all of us in public service learn from their dedication and commitment, as we support Anguilla in reaching its potential.
(Published without editing by The Anguillian newspaper.)
