Professionalism must not be
compromised in new status
GREAT BAY--Personnel Affairs Commissioner Maria Bucamper-Molanus says while some things must change as St. Maarten approaches a new constitutional status, certain things should not.
“A clean, efficient administration must be preserved. The core values of the civil service – continuity and professionalism - must not be compromised,” she told the group of 19 civil servants who received their Bachelor’s and pre-Bachelor’s Degrees at Great Bay Beach Hotel on Friday night.
“The administration has a duty to ensure that members of the civil service remain motivated to serve. That motivation comes professionally from continual training and skills upgrading and emotionally from the appreciation that the civil service is able to secure from the community.
We want our civil servants to feel proud when they serve to the best of their ability. As you graduate here this evening, I ask you to take all of this along in your overwhelming feelings of pride and accomplishment,” she told the graduates.
The Commissioner said the upgrading programmes for civil servants stands as testimony of the Island Government's “strong interest” in developing its human resources and retraining of necessary skills and knowledge of our civil servants who will perform a key role in social and economic development.
She told the graduates that competent public servants with good ethics are keys to the success and improvement of the credibility of the country.
Taking part in the Bachelor’s and Pre-Bachelor’s Degree programme were workers from Sector Health Care Affairs, Casino Control, Environmental Development and Property Management, Island Receivers, Personnel Affairs, Driving Licences Department, Programme and Projects Bureau, Management Resources, Lt. Governor’s Office and General Affairs, amongst other departments.
“In these past few years, civil servants have been doing more with fewer staff members and resources. If you look back objectively, you will discover, by and large, that civil servants have handled all these challenges remarkably well. They have quietly but surely demonstrated a genuine desire and commitment to serve the community to the best of their abilities and within the available resources. Standards of service have not suffered. In many areas they have improved.
In the spirit of good governance, we are committed to smoothing the passage of change by ensuring that it is a transparent and inclusive process,” she said.
