The Fijian civil service continues to aim for excellence in order to meet and also surpass the expectation of its customers.
That is the word from the Minister for Labour, Jone Usamate who opened a one day Best Practices Conference at the Warwick Fiji Resort at Korolevu, Nadroga today.
The conference was held for representatives and champions from different government agencies involved in the Service Excellence Awards – a public service wide, process re-engineering program, already in its ninth year of implementation that aims to streamline organizational processes and procedures within the public service.
Mr Usamate said Fiji was still undergoing major changes through transformation which will benefit all Fijians.
“The reforms, which are currently underway, are building a stronger and a more cohesive public service that continues to strive for excellence,” Mr Usamate said.
“For too long Fijians, the private sector, business houses and more have thought of the civil service as not capable for excellence but this is fast changing.”
A pioneer for excellence during his days at the former Training and Productivity Authority of Fiji (TPAF) before joining Government, Mr Usamate said he has associated himself very closely with the public service.
“I have reviewed the Service Excellence Awards (SEA) for many years and I have noticed changes in the service since the inception of the programme,” Minister Usamate said.
“But we need to ensure that we are still on the game because the signs have been positive. Fiji has only for the second time seen continuous growth in the economy for five consecutive years and this year, we might be able to surpass all economic growth rates because we continue to strive just as the private sector.”
Permanent secretary for Finance, Filimoni Waqabaca also spoke at the conference and highlighted the need to always aim high.
“We need to set a higher benchmark, set the right practices and work towards achieving it. That’s how the civil service is,” Mr Waqabaca said.
“We can achieve excellence in the public service because we will show them (Fijians) that this is a changed service and we will continue to soar for excellence.”
The aim of this conference is to share practices that have been used within organizations to improve efficiency and effectiveness of the organizations processes and representatives of the various ministries and departments will hope to continue its efforts towards service excellence for the benefit of their service to the nation.
Other speakers included Director Immigration Major Nemani Vuniwaqa, Fiji Revenue and Customs chief executive officer Jitoko Tikolevu, Mr Mark Halabe of Mark One Apparel and Fiji Correctional Services Commissioner Lieutenant Colonel Ifereimi Vasu.
-ENDS-