High praise for new head of Public Service; PM Kamla calls Cooper a "Godsend"

Reynold Cooper

Members of cabinet, friends, family and well-wishers got together at the Diplomatic Centre Thursday to celebrate the appointment of Reynold Cooper as head of the Trinidad and Tobago Public service.

Cooper is a career public service officer who also holds the post of Permanent Secretary in the office of the Prime Minister.

Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar took a break from the regular cabinet meeting to allow members of her government to join in the luncheon celebration for Cooper.

Cooper was reassigned to the Office of the Prime Minister in February last year. He worked previously in the Ministries of Health and Works. Persad-Bissessar confirmed his appointment in July following the retirement of Sandra Marchack.

She said when Marchak left she was advised to take her time naming a successor. On Thursday she said that was the best advice at the time, noting that if she had rushed she might have appointed someone other than Cooper.

“PS Cooper was sent by God," she said. "I want to thank you very much,” she said to a lusty applause.

“Trinidad and Tobago, I think, is very blessed to have as head of the Public Service in the person of PS Reynold Cooper...We work well together and I think that augers well for the days to come,” she said.

She told other permanent secretaries attending the celebration it is common for people to resist change, especially when there is a new administration. And she noted that after 16 months in office “I think we are doing very well as a government and as a people.”

Cooper said he thanks God for all his blessings. He also had a word of advice for people in the service, saying the Public Service is a pillar that affected every citizen in T&T.

“Public servants must therefore view their jobs as the delivery of essential goods and services to the nation,” Cooper added.

He urged all permanent secretaries and heads of departments to “make the extra effort to make the Public Service a place where people will be proud to work and have a safe and healthy work environment.”

He also had a message for the Public Service Commission. “There are people who are acting or either temporary for a number of years without an appointment...We have to stop demotivating staff."

He noted that while the majority of public servants are enthusiastic when they start to work there is a tendency for them to become demotivated resulting in low productivity. He suggested that one way to fix that problem is to set standards to keep public servants “fresh on the job.” Cooper said: “We must all share that responsibility.”

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