Cuffie praises public servants’ post-storm commitment

Cuffie made the comments yesterday at the National Library and Information Service (NALIS) Public Service Day, commending workers for their commitment to TT and citing the preparedness and organisation on the part of the public servants as a crucial factor in minimising Bret’s impact.

“The country depends to a large extent on the work of the public servants,” he said.

“On Monday, I was at the meeting where the public servants met and prepared for what was going to take place on Monday night going into Tuesday, and there was extensive preparation by public servants and as part of that extensive preparation, I think there was a marked decrease in the kind of damage we could have had.

“I think that they responded well in a reduction in the extent of damage that could have occurred, and I want to praise the public servants who worked assiduously to ensure that T&T was protected from the damage that could have unfolded even with a relatively small tropical storm like Bret.” Cuffie said while he did not have the exact figure available, he was pleased with the overall turnout of public servants on Tuesday and yesterday, adding that all the relevant ministries would remain open throughout the week.

He also said there would be no different procedure to treat with the absence of workers on Tuesday than on any other day, adding that it was the responsibility of employees to apply for their days off.

“Neither the absence of workers nor the flooding are new to us. There is a procedure to govern absence from work and that is the same procedure that is applied to every occasion. That is, people will apply for their days, the relevant accounting officers will conduct the checks and balances. This is a normal part of the public service.” The event ,which was held at the National Library, Port of Spain, featured several different government public service agencies aimed to provide information on these arms as well as the opportunities available for those seeking employment.