Chief Secretary’s Statement - Wednesday COVID-19 Briefing
Here’s the Chief Secretary Darren Grech’s opening statement at this afternoon’s COVID-19 briefing:
Good afternoon.
A wise friend once told me that Chief Secretaries should be seen and not heard. But these are unusual and unprecedented times and as a public service we have a duty of care to our community, our home and our little nation.
As public servants, it is a matter of repeated record that the Civil Service does rise to the challenge. Our reaction to the COVID-19 emergency is certainly a testament to this.
We are having to deal with an invisible enemy which can cause much damage. An enemy which has millions of years of evolutionary advantage over us; an enemy which is small, very small. If the research is to be believed the COVID-19 virus is in the nanometre scale. To note one nanometre is 10 to the power of negative nine metres. Pick up a ruler: this is one millionth of a millimetre! Therefore please follow the advice which is constantly being repeated. In terms of the announcements made by the Minister today, take advantage of Golden Hour if you feel you have to go out, but continue to respect social distancing, wash your hands and always follow the rules. The virus has not gone away and there is always some risk. Crushing COVID-19 means breaking the habit of a lifetime, for we are a sociable people.
We are very grateful to have a frontline army of health professional workers and helpers. Their work has been tremendous and should be praised. But the Civil Service is the second battalion and I am extremely proud of what has been achieved in such a short time.
In early March, all Government departments and entities were required to prepare contingency plans to handle the COVID-19 pandemic, taking into account updates to the civil contingencies legislation and recommendations from our Director of Public Health. The majority of government counters were closed to the public, although critical ones are still open, and in order to delay the potential spread of the virus, Departmental Heads have had to reduce crowd gatherings in public areas and rotate officers using a ‘Team A and Team B’ system, whereby team members would work from home. Some departments have had the capability to operate exclusively from home, using online systems. More than 5,000 public servants have been affected by the contingency plans and the response from the majority has been exceptional. Our services continue to run. Critical departments have also diverted core services online. Online links and cloud-based solutions between organizations have been reinforced. The work done within the first two weeks in March by the ITLD and the Ministry of Digital & Financial Services has been immense. The work is still ongoing.
As we manage the situation, we are reviewing the operational status of departments and will be making some announcements in due course about the re-opening of offices and counters. At present, we are looking after the most vulnerable members in the community, with the use of the new Bayside School as our temporary logistics base, housing store, PPE equipment, call centres and COVID-19 vehicles. More than 350 deliveries of food packages have been delivered to vulnerable adults in the last three weeks, with an inter-departmental response team based at the Gibraltar Training Centre. The Care Agency has also ramped up its services, monitoring the full spectrum of individuals in Gibraltar, particularly the elderly under lockdown.
Perhaps the greatest burden in the situation thus far has fallen to the three Human Resources Managers (and their teams) within the Public Service: Collin at Civil Service HR, Michael at Public Service HR and Lesley at GHA HR; managing 6,000 government employees, with around 400 redeployments in total throughout Gibraltar and currently 200 actively supporting front-line COVID-19 activities, such as the Nightingale Hospital at Europa Point, supporting our COVID-19 volunteers, manning helplines etc. Keeping the entire public service informed, motivated, ready to ramp up activity whilst managing burnout, is difficult. Everything from catering to transportation has been handled by the HR teams, ensuring that the necessary resources are in place at any given date. Departmental Heads have also been very supportive, with some entities, such as the Department of the Environment, Gibraltar Tourist Board, the Gibraltar Training Centre, the Gibraltar Sports & Leisure Authority, et al shifting their entire departmental resources to the front line in support of the GHA, Gibraltar Care Agency and the Ministry of Public Health.
The Public Service administration’s work continues, perhaps not so much in the limelight, but the situation is being monitored and reviewed on a daily basis. The flipside of such an extreme circumstance that is the global pandemic is that it allows the Chief Secretary the opportunity to see the systems and the people tested to extremes, bringing out where things need to change and what has been resilient. There are definitely significant changes needed to improve the public services in Gibraltar.
The Public Service will emerge stronger and more effective; with temporary measures such as the use of cloud based communications and online services becoming much more permanent in the near future.
It is not over yet, and we need to keep going in the interest of Gibraltar. There will be difficult times ahead and we will have to work more, we will have to work longer hours, across a range of departments and areas, as and when called to do so. Certainly the work might be different to what we are used to. It may involve doing something outside our normal duties. The puzzle assembled post COVID-19 will be very different to what we had before. We will need to get used doing more for less, yes for less! I am asking my Civil Servants to do this for our community, for our families and friends, and for Gibraltar.
I want to place on record the help and guidance received at all times from the three unions: Unite, GGCA and GTA. Moving forward we will have to rely on our very close relationship in order to drive through with the change that is necessary in order to make it out of the woods. Knowing what I know of them, I am sure the apposite support will be there and that we can continue to work together.
Indeed I want to thank the very many public servants who have gone the extra mile, who have worked tirelessly to ensure that we had contigency measures in place to deploy at the touch of a button so to speak. The vast majority of you have exceeded and should be justly proud. Your commitment certainly has not gone unnoticed. It is always difficult to thank everyone; no matter how hard one tries we are always going to leave people out. I do however think that two people are worthy of special mention: without Richard Montado and Ivor Lopez the journey would simply not have been possible.
To the very few who have not risen to the challenge or played fair I say this: there is still a chance. You know who you are, and so do we. This is not a time to play games or slip into the shadows. Stand up and be counted.
We will show, again, what the Civil Service is best at: serving the people of Gibraltar whenever and whatever the circumstances. I have every confidence that we will rise to the occasion.
Before we take any questions I would like to end by sending a warm message to my little friend Reilly Roper who is in the UK needing some treatment from doctors.
“Reilly your new haircut is so cool, in fact I am long due a haircut and am thinking of adopting your style. Keep going little man and don’t forget Celtic football club truly rocks!”
