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Prime Minister Freundel Stuart is welcomed to the Baobab Towers by outgoing Director of the Data Processing Department, Juliet Agard. (C. Pitt/BGIS)

The public sector has come in for high praise from Prime Minister Freundel Stuart, who acknowledged that some officers were forced to work in less than congenial surroundings.??

He heaped accolades on the sector today, while boasting that the island’s public sector was number one in the region, during a tour of the new Data Processing Department Office (DPD), on the 4th Floor, Baobab Towers, Warrens, St. Michael.

Mr. Stuart added: "This is a tribute to excellence, strength of character and the patriotism of those persons that we have been able to attract to the public service over the years.?? We could not be the kind of country that we are if we did not have the kind of public service that we have."

The Prime Minister said public servants played a critical role in this island’s future growth and thanked them for "the sterling effort that you have been making in the developmental progress that Barbados has been making over the years".

Meanwhile, Mr. Stuart also thanked the DPD’s outgoing head, Juliette Agard, for spending 35 years in the public service – 33 of which were spent at the department.

"…What this department has become cannot be divorced from her [Ms. Agard’s] input over those 30 years.?? So, I want to pay public tribute to her for the contribution that she has made to this department, the public service and to the country as a whole.?? Whatever she does when she leaves here I want to wish her all the best," he underlined.

The Prime Minister also mentioned the spanking new facilities and urged the staff to discharge their responsibilities with "much more equanimity and personal satisfaction than would have been possible when you were in less commodious and less physically congenial surroundings".

After the formal ceremony and blessing of the new office by Reverend Neilson Waithe, Mr. Stuart toured the building and greeted some staff members.

julie.carrington@barbados.gov.bb

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