I welcome this opportunity to extend greetings on the occasion of this year’s Civil Service Week which is being observed during the period 20th – 26th November 2011 under the theme: “Civil Servants – Repositioning for National Development”.

If ever there was a need for repositioning of the civil service, indeed, the entire Public Service, no period has greater claim to that imperative than the present. The past year has been the most eventful in recent memory. With the transformation processwell advanced, the words re-evaluate, re-newal, re-engineering, re-invent, re-align have taken root in the consciousness of all civil servants. As we seek to re-shape the reality of Jamaica toward the vision of “the place of choice to live, work, raise families and do business”, let us commit to higher levels of professionalism and service.We must remain resolute and, through collective effort, translate the needs of the population we serve into more effective policies and programmes.

Each of us, in re-positioning to support national development, should seize every opportunity created for personal development through education and training. We need to undertake “re-tooling” of our individual skill-sets and competencies. The environment in which we operate demands improved productivity, service excellence and sustained effectiveness with less financial resources. This call for us to do more with less requires innovative and creative solutions and approaches. Success is our only option.

As we start the celebrations to commemorate Jamaica’s Fiftieth Anniversary of Independence, it is apt to recall the words of John F. Kennedy, “… let every public servant know,whether his post is high or low, that a man’s rank and reputation… will be determined by the size of the job he does… LET THE PUBLIC SERVICE BE A PROUD AND LIVELY CAREER…”.

I commend all those being recognized at the Long Service Awards Ceremony, and I thank all those involved in the planning and execution of Civil Service week. I encourage all Public Servants to participate fully in the week of activities.