Trelawny Municipal Corporation Wins Public Sector Debate Competition

Members of the Trelawny Municipal Corporation are winners of the inaugural Public Sector Debate Competition.

They defeated the Ministry of National Security in the finals held on April 25 at the Jamaica Conference Centre in downtown Kingston.

“We are really happy about this victory. For each match, we did intense preparation and gave it our best,” Captain of the Trelawny Municipal Corporation debate team, Shakera Williams, told JIS News.

Ms. Williams lauded the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service’s Transformation and Implementation Unit (TIU) and the Jamaica Association for Debate and Empowerment (JADE) Limited for organising the competition.

“Since we have been in this competition, we have learned so much about the public sector, and we now have a greater appreciation of the policies and our role. Our sense of awareness and interest in the public sector has now been piqued,” she said.

Ms. Williams was chosen the best speaker throughout the competition and the team received the ‘Best Team Outside of Kingston’ prize. They walked away with the grand prize of $100,000; a weekend vacation for two at a resort (each); sip and paint passes; the winner’s trophy and an additional $75,000 from the Jamaica Civil Service Association (JCSA).

The Ministry of National Security walked away with a cash prize of $75,000, day passes to an all-inclusive resort and the second-place trophy.

“The competition was great as it forced us to look beyond what we experience on a daily basis as public-sector workers. It forced us to put things in context and assess what we do as public sector-workers and citizens of Jamaica,” Captain of the Ministry of National Security debate team, Peta Gay Rowe, told JIS News.

The Jamaica Information Service (JIS) defeated Victoria Jubilee Hospital in the third-place play-off, held on the same day at the Jamaica Conference Centre. The JIS team members received second runner-up trophies, dinner reservations (each), and $30,000. Captain of the JIS team, Peta-Gay Hodges, was the recipient of the JSCA’s Best Speaker prize of $25,000.

Each of the 20 teams that entered the competition received participatory gifts. The Jamaica Customs Agency is the winners of the online ‘Fan Favourite’ competition, and nurses from the Victoria Jubilee Hospital debate team were the recipients of the ‘most improved’ award.

Meanwhile, Executive Director of the TIU, Maria Thompson Walters, congratulated the Trelawny Municipal Corporation and all the other participating teams.

“The Trelawny Municipal Corporation really surprised us. They were consistent throughout the debate and they did well in all their matches,” Ms. Thompson Walters said.

She said the execution of the competition exceeded her expectations and she looks forward to the TIU hosting the competition again in 2020.

Under the theme, ‘Facing Issues, Influencing Solutions’, the competition saw public-sector workers engaged in debates on the topics of transformation and other relevant issues within the public service.

Persons are encouraged to watch the delayed broadcast of the finals on TVJ, Sunday, May 5 at 4:00 p.m. and follow TIU’s Facebook page (TIUjamaica) and Instagram page (@tiu_jamaica).