Prime Minister Baldwin Spencer has said that the Public Sector Transformation National Public Speaking and Debate Competition was a tremendous success. The event that was designed to stimulate national dialogue on the government’s Public Sector Transformation agenda was held at the Multipurpose Cultural & Exhibition Centre on Thursday evening. The prime Minister sponsored the event.
It was organised in three sections: a public speaking element involving public servants, a debate component featuring Antigua State College students and the People’s Choice segment, where members of the audience got the opportunity to share their views on transforming the public service. Caryl Henry (Office of the Prime Minister) topped the public servants category and received the Prime Minister’s Award for the Best Public Speaker. Jannelle Wehner (Ministry of Finance) was the first runner-up while Beulah Warner (Inland Revenue Department) was adjudged second runner-up. In the debating section, there were three separate debates, which were won by A-level students Lynda Ozuomba, Carlon Knight, and George Looby respectively. Carlon Knight received the highest score of all the debate winners and as such received the Prime Minister’s Award for the Best Debater. The People’s Award for the Best Impromptu Speaker went to Patsy Philip, who was one of five audience members to participate in that section.
The prime minister said, "The participants made excellent presentations; the content was solid and the presentations were delivered quite well. The suggestions from these presentations will surely be utilized by the government, as it crafts and implements its Public Sector Transformation agenda.”