Deputy Governors from the five Caribbean British Overseas Territories and Bermuda began a three-day meeting in Anguilla on Wednesday, May 21, at Paradise Cove Resort, with the main discussion matter being the Public Service in the respective islands.

L-R: Hon. Stanley Reid, Rev. Weekes, Governor George, CM Fleming and Deputy Governor Mark Capes (Bermuda)

The opening ceremony, which began with the invocation by Reverend Cecil Weekes, was chaired by Anguilla’s Deputy Governor, Stanley Reid.
“The G6 Forum of Deputy Governors and Chief Secretary provides an opportunity for Bermuda and the five Caribbean Overseas Territories to meet annually and discuss initiatives, challenges and successes in relation to the development of the respective territories with specific focus on the development of Public Service systems and processes,” Mr. Reid said.

“As a result, the G6 Forum…has been expanded to include persons with responsibility for the management of the Public Service in the various territories…During the next three days the participating territories will have an opportunity to draw on the knowledge and experience of each other. This is to ensure that the same mistakes are not made and, where necessary, resources can be sourced from among the territories.”

Front row: Speaker David Carty, Hon. Victor Banks, Hon. Attorney Dr. Bourne and delegates

Governor Andrew George said that all the participating territories had quite a variety in terms of population and economic development and were facing similar problems in dealing with a world that was changing very rapidly. He said the islands were all small societies dependent on one or two major industries which were very vulnerable to external shocks.

“All the territories have processes of constitutional review which are at different stages,” he stated. “In Anguilla, the Government is currently conducting a further round of public consultations with a view to defining the position to be taken in future discussions with the UK. I think that is going to be a very interesting process for everybody and I am sure there will be room for plenty keen discussion over the next few years.”

He observed that the principal focus of the conference would be the role of the public service which he described as a key element in the process of ensuring good governance in all of the territories. “While the Public Service must evolve and adapt to face many of the different challenges we are dealing with in the years to come, there will be elements that we must always ensure that we preserve,” he said.

Among those elements in particular, which the Deputy Governor had been working on, were the ethics of the Public Service in preserving integrity, impartiality and a commitment to ensuring the proper use of public monies and ensuring that the public interest was always at the forefront.

Chief Minister, Osbourne Fleming, told the Deputy Governors and other officials: “We are an open country. We managed our finances well. We don’t think we need anybody to oversee that for us. We do a good job in collecting and in spending; but I would hope that this conference would be beneficial not only to the Deputy Governors but to our individual territories.”

Mr. Fleming continued: “We believe that you as Deputy Governors would address ways and means of improving the working relationship with the Civil Service. We believe that the morale of the service must always be kept high. We also feel that Deputy Governors and Governors must always be ready and willing to stand in assistance of the politicians and to support them where necessary to implement policies that would be better run this country. In other words, there should be no road blocks. We should all work together.”

Deputy Governor of Bermuda, Mark Capes, who previously served in the same position in Anguilla, also addressed the opening ceremony. He spoke in his capacity as the representative of the Overseas Territories Department at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London which was unable to send a delegate to the conference. He said he was looking forward to a useful conference which would deliver tangible ways in assisting the territories with their work.

The conference agenda items were outlined as follows: “Responding to challenges facing the Anguilla Public Service,” Re-branding the Public Service of the Turks & Caicos Islands – Progress to date and challenges”; “Public Service Reform in Montserrat: Progress to date and lessons in the process”; “Public Sector and Accountability and “Disaster Management Issues”.

There will be a special presentation and workshop on the Cayman Islands Civil Service College (CSC) on Monday, May 26. The topics for discussion will include “Public Sector Reform and CSC Cayman”; “Competency Based Training and Strategic, Human Resource Planning within the Public Services”’ “Developing CSC as a Regional Resource”; “Role and Contributions of DFID in Improving Governance in the Overseas Territories” and “Agendas across OTs for Training and Development within the Public Sector” and “Disaster Management Issues.”

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