Ministry of Finance, National Planning & Trade (MFNPT) |04 March 2023

The long-serving staff in a souvenir photograph with guests

Long-serving staff honoured

By Patrick Joubert

The Ministry of Finance, National Planning & Trade (MFNPT) hosted a ceremony yesterday to recognise and honour 46 of its long-serving staff for their loyalty, dedication, commitment and contribution.

The recognition award ceremony for the staff who have worked for 10, 15, 20, 25, 30 and 40 years not only in the MFNPT but also in the public service in general, took place yesterday at the Savoy Resort & Spa, Beau Vallon.

Apart from the award recipients who were mostly women, present also were President Wavel Ramkalawan; First Lady Linda Ramkalawan; Vice-President Ahmed Afif; the Minister for Finance, National Planning & Trade, Naadir Hassan; and the secretary of state (SS) for Finance, Patrick Payet, who was also recognised.

It was SS Payet who presented long-serving staff of 10 years (11 recipients) with their certificates and tokens of appreciation while Minister Hassan presented those with 15 years of service (16 recipients) and 20 years (5 recipients) with theirs.

Those with 25 years (6 recipients) and 30 years (3 recipients) received their certificates and tokens of appreciation from Vice-President Afif.

President Ramkalawan had the honour of presenting certificates and tokens of appreciation to Desline Capricieuse, Veronique Adeline, Marguerita Belle, Charles Morin and Doris Naiken for having clocked 40 years of service. It is to be noted that the latter has retired from MFNPT. She started in 1982 and before retirement she was the senior human resource officer. She was not present for the ceremony.

The last long service award of the ministry took place in 2019 before the Covid-19 pandemic.

In his opening address, Minister Hassan thanked the long-serving staff for the devotion and loyalty to the ministry and for seizing the good opportunities available for advancement in their careers and that of the ministry.

“Today as we come to celebrate, I would like to thank all the staff from the ministry for the unbelievable work that we have done together to put the country back on its feet. It was not easy, especially in the last two years where we really worked very hard day and night. It would have been nice if people could have had the chance to witness how we did it,” Minister Hassan said.

Minister Hassan said that with the right attitude being demonstrated by the staff, the ministry will surely continue to move forward towards its obligation to do what is best for the country while it also has job opportunities for people to follow a career in the various sections.

In his closing remarks, President Ramkalawan congratulated the long-serving staff for their devotion and work done.

He said that although the country is facing economic challenges, the government admires their work and will always depend on their expertise so as to offer what is best to improve the lives of the people.

“On seeing the work that you have done, I am ready to tell to anybody who inspires to lead the country, that if there is to be one ministry or one group of people that they can count on at 100 percent, who gives 100 percent and who will find solutions at 100 percent of what is best for the country, is no other than you people from the Ministry of Finance. I congratulate you,” said President Ramkalawan, who noted that the country is in good hands with their contributions.

President took the opportunity to call on the young generation of workers in the ministry to follow in the footsteps of those with long years of service so that they continue to develop their careers and to grow to replace their peers when they retire, further to becoming leaders.

He said that government will continue to offer the ministry its full support.

On behalf of his colleague recipients, Mr Morin who gave a brief history of his career path to end up as chief negotiator at the Trade department, thanked the ministry and all those involved in one way or another in organising the event in their honour.

Senior accounts administrator, Veronique Adeline, who started as an account assistant in 1980 said, “Although I faced many challenges, it’s my love for the job along with the support of my colleagues and superiors that have kept me until today. I will keep on giving my best as usual for the advancement of the ministry.”

As for Adriana August, an internal auditor with 10 year of service, said that given the department is all women, she would like to one day see a mixture of female and male counterparts in the department.

“I would like to see young people especially young boys coming to join our department which is one very interesting section to work in,” said Mrs August.  

During the ceremony, Marizette Luther, an awardee with 20 years of service, performed the song ‘Good Job’ by Alicia Keys to the applause and delight of all present.

Photos by Patrick Joubert