Permanent Secretaries Retreat at the Pearl Resort was a capacity and team building exercise and not a picnic – PSC Chair

Public Service Commission Chair, Luke Rokovada has today stated that the one and a half day Permanent Secretaries Retreat at the Pearl Resort, Pacific Harbour was a capacity and team building exercise and not a picnic as suggested by former Prime Minister, Mahendra Chaudhry.

Rokovada says the Permanent Secretaries spent one night at the resort.

He says they travelled to Pacific Harbour on Friday morning (19th July) and the seminars started at 9:30am and finished at 5:15pm.

Rokovada says on Saturday (20th July), the seminars commenced at 9am and finished at 1:15pm.

He says the sessions focused on leadership, innovation and navigating the future in which Permanent Secretaries were challenged to discuss their vision for Fiji for the next six years to 2030 and beyond.

Rokovada says for Chaudhry to suggest that the 20 Permanent Secretaries were at the Retreat to enjoy themselves is ill-advised and irresponsible.

The PSC Chairman says this retreat is cost-effective compared to previous retreats under the previous administration.

He adds during the FijiFirst Government, Permanent Secretaries were having Retreats at expensive Resorts in the Coral Coast and Denarau for two nights stay, and some years there were two consecutive retreats. Rokovada says the Permanent Secretaries at this year’s retreat discussed topics like diversity and inclusion, data collection and cybersecurity awareness.

He adds effective governance requires investing in crucial areas, such as addressing the HIV/AIDS crisis and modernizing Fiji’s bureaucratic system.

Rokovada says the PS Sub-committees are dedicated to these challenges, making these retreats vital for bringing the PSs together given the nature of their work and tight day-to-day schedules.

The four sub-committees are Removing Red Tape Sub-committee; Future of Work Sub-committee; HIV/AIDS Sub-committee and the Removing Waste Sub-committee.

The PSC Chairman also clarified that the well-deserved Civil Service Day celebration, which was held on July 5th, was conducted without an allocated budget.

He says the event focused on community service activities such as the cleanup campaign and tree planting in the Nasinu area, the wellness Wednesday programme and the public lecture and information sessions.

Rokovada says the turnout from the general public was positive and the engagement was meaningful as it allowed the public to know what the civil service looks like from the inside out.

The Chairman adds that the Roc Market was a private-public partnership designed to support small and medium enterprises majority of which are women entrepreneurs.

While commenting on the cabinet dinner at the Grand Pacific Hotel, Chaudhry had said that just last week-end the Permanent Secretaries were enjoying a retreat at a posh resort in Denarau, Nadi and not so long ago, government workers spent an entire week on civil service celebrations.