Staff urged to heed law

By JOSHUA MANI
PUBLIC Service Commission (PSC) staff have been urged to heed the law and maintain standards by outgoing chairman Dr Philip Kereme.
Dr Kereme told staff: “Yes, we may have lost one or two cases in court, but for most, PSC has come out on top and that is the standard we have set and must maintain.”
Dr Kereme handed over the chairmanship to Apeo Fuata Sione in a ceremony witnessed by staff and the commission’s secretariat last Wednesday. Sione was the PSC commissioner.
Dr Kereme thanked the staff for their support during his tenure and urged them to move the agency forward.
“I am going out with so much confidence that you will take PSC to the next level,” he said.
“My advice to you all is not to see PSC where you are now, but where you can be in the future.”
Dr Kereme retired after serving in the public service for 44 years.
He was appointed chairman of the PSC on July 4, 2013, and served until his retirement last month.
Sione thanked Dr Kereme for his vision in leading the organisation and thanked him for his service to the PSC, adding that he would carry on from where Dr Kereme left off and improve the commission.
Acting commissioner, provincial, Richard Simbil said Dr Kereme had left a legacy through his Supreme Court application that challenged the Government in their removal of PSC’s appointment function.
Simbil said it was a fight that lasted five years and eventually a decision was made in PSC’s favour in March.
“Dr Kereme, that is the legacy that you have set and it can be seen in PACLii (online law report system in Pacific) as Kereme v. O’Neill,” he said.
“The commission stands by good governance, accountability and transparency and, therefore, could not sit down without a fight and you led the charge to stand up for what was in the best interest of the people of Papua New Guinea.”