Cabinet selects winners of Public Service Award

MALE, Nov 2 (HNS) – The Cabinet on Thursday selected this year's conferees of the awards for Outstanding Service to the Public. The government has been giving these annual awards since 1979. The first such award was given on July 26 of that year during the ceremony held to mark Maldives' independence day. Nominations for the Public Service Awards are open to both public and private sectors. Nominations from the public sector are sent to the President's Office before the end of August every year. Nominations from the private sector are forwarded through the public authority concerned with the nominee's area of public service. This year's selection was finalized after discussions in the Cabinet after a ministerial committee had examined the service records of the nominees. As in previous years, the awards are to be given away at the official meeting held to mark Republic Day, which is Nov 11. However, the official ceremony this year is to be held on Nov 12. The Cabinet's session on Thursday also deliberated upon the participation of Maldives in the Convention on the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), and recommended its ratification by Maldives. Key objectives of MIGA include the promotion of foreign direct investment to alleviate poverty and improve living standards in developing countries. Furthermore, at the Cabinet session, President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom briefed the Cabinet on his recent visit to Egypt to attend the opening of the new Alexandria Library.