Deputy Governor Her Excellency Anya Williams and Civil Service Association President Jas Walkin and Vice President Demarco Williams met on Monday July 22, 2019 to discuss key matters pertaining to the Turks and Caicos Islands Civil Service.
The President and Vice President provided an update to the Deputy Governor on:
- their first 30 days in office
- the recent appointment and announcement of their Administrative Secretariat
- their plans to hold executive branch elections in September 2019
- the civil service survey which is currently being carried out to gauge civil servants needs and concerns
- the appointment of Dr. Carlton Mills to serve as the CSA appointed member on the Public Service Commission
- the establishment of a working committee following the appointment of the executive branch to finalize work on their draft Constitution
- their meeting with the Teachers Association to hear their concerns
The Deputy Governor welcomed the update provided by the CSA and in turn discussed her office’s plans for:
- Civil Service Week 2019 which will be held from September 15th-21st
- the ongoing work on the Review of the Reinstatement of Gratuities and Pensions. The Deputy Governor advised that a Benefits Committee chaired by herself had been established and that the committee had already commenced meetings to review plans from across the region as well as those previously in place in the TCI and to recommend options for consideration. The committee would be assisted through a consultancy which was being tendered to assist in carrying out costing and other work.
- the Deputy Governor discussed the success of the new performance appraisal system which saw over 90% submission rates for 2018/2019 and resulted in the payment of increments to large numbers of civil servants in the July payroll back dated to April 2019. Teachers appraisals were due at the end of the school calendar year and once vetted and confirmed by HR would be included their September payroll.
- the Deputy Governor discussed the positive trend of promotions that was being seen across the public service and the need to encourage more staff to pursue opportunities for upward mobility as well as participation in the Professional Development Fund.
The parties agreed to hold monthly meetings going forward to discuss the progress and concerns of the civil service and to work on developing potential projects that both organizations could collaborate on.
ENDS
