Salutation
Honourable Members of Cabinet and Assistant Ministers;
The Chairman & Members of the Public Service
Commission;
Permanent Secretaries & Government Officials;
Invited Dignitaries;
Civil Servants;
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Ni sa Bula Vinaka and a very good morning to you all.
I would like to begin by acknowledging the Traditional Owners and Custodians of the land on which we stand today, ki Nadonumai, vua na Turaga na Tui Suva.
I pay my respects to their Chiefs past and present, as well as to emerging leaders and members of the Vanua
o’ Nadonumai who may be present here this morning. I acknowledge their role in caring for the Vanua. May their strength and wisdom be with us today.
I am deeply honored and delighted to be here this morning to celebrate Civil Service day with you.
I thank the Chairman of the Public Service Commission, Ambassador Luke Rokovada and Mr. Parmesh Chand, the Permanent Secretary for Civil Service, for the very warm welcome.
Please allow me to read a quote I thought appropriate for today:“He loves his country best who strives to make
it best.” -Robert G. Ingersoll
Our civil servants work, day-in and day-out serving the nation, often working late into the night, and
weekends, in particular those of you serving remote communities in the hard to reach interior, rural and maritime areas.
In my view, the civil service is not for the faint-hearted. As the padre said at the investiture ceremony earlier this
week, behind the medals being awarded, are sweat, blood, tears and sacrifice.
I believe we are raised to give back and feel a strong sense of national service to our country.
We serve our nation, our families, our communities, our religious and cultural organisations, our Vanua and our Provinces throughout our lives.
As Prime Minister, I want to acknowledge your efforts as the ENGINE ROOM of Government.
Your work whether it’s patrolling and keeping our streets and people safe, drafting policies to guide the delivery of services and programs to our people and supporting government initiatives is what keeps the Government going.
In short, YOU breathe life into our vision as your leaders.
Today and this week, we acknowledge that the services you provide across the nation to enable the implementation of Government strategies in order that the people of this nation can live a better life.
In this regard, I acknowledge your innovation and resourcefulness, you go above and beyond the call of duty in ensuring a better life for our people.
I was proud to attend the investiture ceremonies held this week to honor civil servants who have gone above and beyond the call of duty.
That sense of service to the nation, of loyalty to the people, of self-sacrifice, patience and virtuous service is a long-standing tradition of the service which I am glad to see, is alive and well today.
Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen, our event this morning is the culmination of our week-long program.
It commenced with the RoC market event to support SMEs, and included the tree-planting and clean-up campaign as well as the wellness programme on Wednesday.
Unfortunately, there weren’t any Olympians identified at the competitions during the Wellness Event, but the message of keeping healthy for ourselves, our families, and the nation was well received.
I hope next Wednesday and going forward, that Wellness Day will be as well attended.
Last year at the launch of the Catering Policy for Government, it was revealed that NCDs are also a challenge for the civil service unfortunately reflects our national NCD crisis.
But I thank you all for the enthusiastic participation in all the activities this week.
This programme aligned closely to the objectives of the UN Public Service Day celebrated in June annually.
This celebration gives us the opportunity to renew our commitment to better serve the people Fiji.
In considering the aftermath of cyclones and the recent once in a lifetime event, the COVID-19 pandemic, we acknowledge that civil servants risked their lives for their their fellow citizens.
Ordinary people know the extraordinary lengths that civil servants go to, to ensure their safety and wellbeing during disasters and in the consequential rehabilitation and recovery effort.
Moreover, civil servants face significant challenges. Many have endured great hardships to deliver life- changing services to our people.
For instance, the Pharmaceutical & Biomedical Team cross rivers, hike mountains and even go on horseback to deliver essential medicine to rural and maritime communities.
Civil Servants across the geographical spread of our nation face numerous difficulties, yet they persevere to provide much-needed support to the people of this nation.
We remember well during the pandemic, teachers serving in maritime and interior areas without internet access, who went on foot, on horseback and on outboard vessels to deliver lessons, pickup homework and deliver education to our children while schools were closed.
Their selfless service is testament to the saying that “human beings are not placed here on earth for ourselves, but for each other.”
On behalf of the Government and people of Fiji, I thank each one of you for your service and sacrifices for your fellow citizens – Vinaka vakalevu.
Please allow me to now discuss the challenges that face the service.
While you keep the machinery of government ticking, there is always room for improvement and our clients, the people of Fiji, deserve no less than our best, in particular the vulnerable and marginalized communities.
Our bosses, the taxpayers whom we serve, have voiced criticism regarding the quality of service provided.
To me, as Prime Minister and Minister for the Civil Service, our effort to reform the service, streamline processes and improve our services to the people is a continuous endeavour.
This requires looking at Government as a whole, reviewing our systems, our greatest asset our people and seeing how we can make changes to improve working conditions, provide incentives, streamline processes, improve service delivery and reward
productivity.
The SVT Coalition Government I led in the 1990s began the public service and public sector reform program.
We made some progress which have been continued by successive governments. Our recent predecessor, the FijiFirst Administration made some far-reaching changes.
Some of these have been reversed and we intend to do another system-wide review and reform to fulfil our promise to the people that we will improve the quality and speed of service delivery.
It is critical that we identify practices and processes that no longer serve us, or which can be automated, made more efficient and streamlined with technology.
I am proud that through the upcoming budget, long-awaited wage and salary increases will be effective from 1 st August, the first since 2017 when individual contracts were first introduced.
I assure you that this Government will continue to facilitate the allocation of resources to assist you with your roles.
To do this successfully, I want to ask you as Head of Government, to honestly express your views and make suggestions without fear, favor or malice when you are consulted during the reform process.
And as Prime Minister and Minister for Civil Service, I want to reassure you and affirm that it is your duty to advise me, and other Ministers honestly, and without fear or favor.
The shackles of fear in civil servants of suddenly “turning 55” that existed in the previous 17 years, has been removed with the People’s Coalition Government.
However, a state of mind does not disappear overnight and it is a process of adjustment.
I want to reassure you, that civil servants duty is to serve the people, and implement the policies of the Government of the day.
As civil servants, your loyalty is to the people.
I confirm that, to the Government of the Day, your primary duty is to provide honest and competent advice without fear, favor or malice
I want to dispel the misconception that civil servants owe loyalty to the government of the day.
This may be due to the climate of fear that previously existed, but I want to affirm that as civil servants, you must be politically neutral, and do your work without fear, favor or malice.
If you feel you cannot be politically neutral, then the best option is to choose a new workplace and we have had quite a large attrition rate in the last 19 months.
If you remain and serve with malice, unfortunately, you do a disservice to the people of Fiji and your days will be numbered.
I believe the civil service is a great training ground to learn systems, processes and to upskill yourself and the marketability of civil servants means that regional and international organisations benefit from the investment that government has made in upskilling you.
We do not begrudge civil servants moving to greener pastures, it means Government must do more to retain and maintain the institutional capacity of all agencies.
For those civil servants leaving for overseas opportunities, they give back to the nation in the form of remittances which as recently announced, reached $1.25b in 2023.
The budget increases announced last week is indicative of our commitment to ensure that civil servants are incentivized and rewarded for their services.
Last year, we increased the retirement age to 60 years, and initiated tenure appointments to safeguard skills and institutional knowledge within Government.
Recent policy directions issued this year are now facilitating succession planning and the retention of our people to address skills gaps in the Civil Service.
As we forge ahead, I am optimistic that services will improve and the targets of the new National Development Plan will be achieved through continued resilience, innovation and resourcefulness of civil servants.
I would also like to thank our development partners and stakeholders, without whom our civil service could not effectively carry out its role.
Thank you for your unwavering support and assistance.
In closing, I want to thank you all again for your service and ask you to keep the faith.
There are many training opportunities available to civil servants from development partners, as well as opportunity for advanced tertiary studies.
Education is a lifelong process, take up these opportunities and continue to better yourself.
And keep speaking truth to power. Continue to give your advice to Ministers and Assistant Ministers without fear!
Work with us as we continue the civil service reform, continue to strive for excellence, and continue to love and serve the people of Fiji.
While our beloved nation faces many challenges, it is my belief that we have not only the intellect, but also the resources to meet these challenges.
No greater resource is available to me as Prime Minister and to my fellow Cabinet Ministers and Assistant Ministers, than in the intellect, the innovation and resourcefulness of the civil servants whom we work with.
This belief inspires me every day despite the challenges that I face as Prime Minister.
In closing, I thank you again for your sacrifices and ask that you continue serving our people to the best of your ability because every one of us has a role to play in building the future we want for our children and grandchildren.
Happy Civil Service Day!
Vina’a Va’alevu!