Six Entities Shortlisted For Public Sector Awards

Six public sector organisations have been shortlisted for awards in the 2015 Public Sector Customer Service Competition of the Office of the Cabinet.

They are: National Health Fund (NHF), Passport Immigration and Citizenship Agency (PICA), Firearm Licensing Authority (FLA), National Land Agency (NLA), National Housing Trust (NHT), and the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission (JCDC).

The award categories are: Most Improved Customer Service, Most Creative/Innovative, Most Responsive, and Most Socially Aware.

Winners for the competition will be announced at a special awards ceremony on October 9.

Acting Senior Director, Modernization Programme Implementation Unit, Cabinet Office, Michele Gordon-Somers, commended the entities for participating in the competition and for “caring about the services that they are offering to customers.”

Mrs. Gordon-Somers, who was addressing a Jamaica Information Service Think Tank held today (September 2), noted that the entities, over the past two years, have been able to raise their service standards.

“We regard you as change champions in our public sector. You are helping us to set the tone and to engender that culture of excellence across the public sector,” she said.

The Senior Director said she was pleased with the level of participation and submissions from new organisations.

She also lauded the participation from the public, noting that over 16,000 votes were received at the closing deadline for submissions.

Public votes will determine the winners in the categories of ‘Best Customer Service Agency’ and the ‘Best Customer Service Officer.’

“There were 12,000 persons, who submitted votes through nomination boxes placed within organisations, there were over 3,000 customers who voted online…and over 1, 500 customers, who were willing to participate in the islandwide telephone survey that was conducted to get their views on the levels of service delivery across the public sector,” Mrs. Gordon-Somers informed.

The biennial Public Sector Customer Service Competition seeks to recognise and reward public sector entities that excel in providing quality customer service.