POND ISLAND--Department heads in the Ministry of Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transportation and Telecommunications (TEATT) have been called on by TEATT Minister Mellissa Arrindell-Doncher to be “agents of change” in their departments.
She told her team at the familiarisation event, “You need to redefine your role, and move beyond controlling, regulating and managerial capabilities, and think of yourselves as change agents.”
TEATT Secretary-General Miguel de Weever organised the event for the Minister to meet department heads who made power-point presentations focussed on the structure of their departments, future plans, bottlenecks and the cooperation they look forward to receiving from the Minister and her Cabinet.
The Minister told the department heads: “The next step beyond articulating these priorities is to translate these into policies, and implement programmes that improve peoples’ lives. To do that, we need good public service and good public sector leaders.”
“Our policies have to change with time, to keep up with changing aspirations and needs. Our Ministry also has to change with time, to provide St. Maarteners with seamless, functional service,” she added.
Policy is implementation and if it is not translated into specific programmes and well executed, it will just remain a piece of paper, the Minister said. “When you have gotten it implemented, you also have to monitor results and trends carefully, so we know when we need to change our approach.”
Arrindell-Doncher continued: “Together, we are responsible for the most important Ministry of Government. We hold the country’s economy in our hands. We have to stimulate the economy and strategically position our vital tourism product in an extremely competitive market.”
She pledged to always hear the heads recommendations with “an open mind and realistic approach.”
