Monday July 26, 2010

His Excellency the Governor Mr. David Pearey described honourees of the Employee of the Quarter Programme for the second quarter as extraordinary.

The Governor was speaking at the Employee of the Quarter ceremony, held last week at the Prospect Reef Resort‟s Reef House to honour six well deserving public servants for their hard work and commitment to the Virgin Islands Government.

“The honourees have done extraordinary things to help lift the quality of the public service in their own particular way. We have in the Virgin Islands Public Service some very extraordinary and notable contributing individuals and I am sure the six of you are no exception to that general patent,” The Governor said.

The Governor added, “I congratulate and encourage you to keep going with the high quality of contribution you have been making, and encourage those around you to rise to the levels you have attained, ambassadors, of the public service. In addition to awarding you, we are also burdening you with the responsibility of extending to the rest of the public service the message that we need to continue to raise standards even higher than they are at this present time and we can do this through the good example you six are making to the public service.”

The honourees are Ms. Joann Hill of the Department of Culture; Ms. Lisa Donovan of the Department of Human Resources; Mrs. Beverly Hodge Smith of the Ministry of Health and Social Development; Mr. Keon August of the Water and Sewerage Department; Ms. Sandra Ambrose of the Conservation and Fisheries Department and Ms. Tamesha Smith of the Premier‟s Office.

Acting Permanent Secretary in the Deputy Governor‟s Office Ms. Arlene Smith making remarks on behalf of the Deputy Governor congratulated the honourees. Ms. Smith shared with the honourees that, “Being in the public service is an honour and you should never stop growing and learning.”

“After reading all of your citations, I can see that you are well on your way to being the type of public officers that we want to see. You embrace change and realise that change is necessary if you want to grow as an individual.” Ms. Smith shared.

Mrs. Beverly Hodge Smith and Ms. Lisa Donovan responded on behalf of the honourees by sharing quotes by each honouree on what the award means to them.

The Employee of the Quarter initiative was launched in 2005 as a means of recognising public officers who exceed expectations and set an example for their fellow public officers. This service-wide „ministerial level‟ recognition programme is administered by the Department of Human Resources-Employee Relations Unit.