In my National Day Address to the people of Seychelles this year, I appealed to all civil servants to take their work seriously, to improve their work productivity, to serve the public well, with respect, and with equity.

Fairness and equity must remain hallmarks of public service. Together with good discipline,efficiency, effectiveness, they form the foundation of strong and accountable publicadministration, upon which both the public and private sectors rely for the proper functioningof a dynamic economy.

Improvements in our performance cannot be measured without a proper framework.That is why on this Public Service Day, I would like to extend my call further to all public sector organisations to set benchmarks for themselves in relation to the services they provide, and to assess their performance against these benchmarks.They should use these performance indicators to eliminate weaknesses and develop strategies for improving not only their own service delivery, but also the services of other organisations on whichthey depend.

Our Seychellois public have developed high expectations of service, and we must strive to match and even exceed these expectations where possible. And where we know there areconstraints and challenges, we have a responsibility to manage expectations by propersensitisation and realistic feedback.

I receive feedback everyday from members of the public, and I know that much remains tobe done in terms of improved service delivery.

We must redouble our efforts in this direction. We must remain connected with the people.I would like to express my sincere appreciation of the hard work of those public serviceemployees who strive every day, often in difficult circumstances, to offer the best ofthemselves for our country and our people.

May your courage and your example be an inspiration to others. And may your determination be crowned by the success it deserves.I wish all public servants a happy Public Service Day, and every success in the year ahead.

James A. Michel