NEWS ITEMS FROM THE ST. HELENA GOVERNMENT
Arrival of Governor and Mrs Clancy.
(7/10/04)
Governor Clancy accompanied by his wife Mrs Claire Clancy are due to arrive on the next visit of the RMS St Helena on Friday 15th October. Upon arrival, which is scheduled at 8am, the Governor and his wife will be met on board the ship by the Chief Secretary and Mrs Styles, the Staff Officer and the Aide de Camp.
Once ashore HE and Mrs Clancy will be greeted by the Bishop, Honourable Speaker, Financial Secretary, Attorney General, Members of Executive & Legislative Council and the Sheriff.
After meeting the senior staff of OCS and Personnel, Governor and Mrs Clancy will proceed to Plantation House.
At 1:50pm all uniformed contingents will take their place on the Grand Parade. Governor and Mrs Clancy will arrive at the Grand Parade, with the staff officer and will be received by the Chief Secretary.
The inauguration ceremony will commence, after which His Excellency will inspect the Guard of Honour. The uniformed contingents will then perform a march pass to signal the end of the ceremony.
The Governor and Mrs Clancy will then proceed to the Council Chamber where they will meet Government and non-Government Officials and any members of the public who might wish to greet them.
Public Relations/Information Office, Office of the Chief Secretary, 6th Oct 2004
Kimleen Robinson - a welcome addition to the Information Technology
section. (7/10/04)
St Helenian Kimleen Robinson has returned after studying for three years at Portsmouth University. Kimleen successfully completed her three-year Bachelor of Engineering course in Electronics and Computer Engineering and graduated with Honours.
The first two years of Kim’s scholarship were funded through the Education Link and the third year by the Technical Cooperation Training Programme, which is coordinated by the Personnel Department. Kim was then “adopted” by the Finance department, which ensured that on her return to the Island she was guaranteed a job within that department.
In an article that was sent to the Herald by Kimleen’s brother Andrew, we learnt that there were only two girls completing this course. Kim said this wasn’t a big deal as regardless of gender everyone got on fine. She made a lot of friends of different nationalities and she will miss them. Kim added that she will also miss Portsmouth as it is a nice place, and after all it was home for the last three years.
Kim returned to St Helena on 21st September and after a week of catching up with family and friends and getting back into the St Helena lifestyle, she started her job in the IT section on the 1st October. Her first day included the grand tour of the Finance Department. She will no doubt be visiting other departments when their computers decide to go on strike. Kim is proud of her qualification, which was achieved through hard work and dedication - proof that if you put your heart and mind into something you can succeed. Kim says she is happy to be back home and is looking forward to her new job. Well done Kim - yet another success for St Helena.
Public Relations/Information Office, Office of the Chief Secretary, 6th Oct 2004
Swearing in of Acting Governor
(7/10/04)
Governor and Mrs David Hollamby departed on the RMS St Helena on Wednesday 29th September marking the end of Governor Hollamby’s time in office.
At 7:00pm on Wednesday 29th September, John Styles was sworn in as Acting Governor for St Helena and its Dependencies during the period that St Helena awaits the arrival of the Governor -designate, Clancy. Mr Styles has served as Acting Governor and Deputy Governor on quite a number of occasions since he took up post as Chief Secretary in the St Helena Government from June 2000.
The swearing in ceremony was conducted by the Sheriff, Mrs G.P Musk in the Governor’s Office, in the presence of the Lord Bishop, Legislative Council (LegCo), Heads of Department (H.O.Ds) and other officials.
In his speech, the Acting Governor thanked everyone present for attending the ceremony as this showed their obvious support for him in his acting capacity, he also acknowledged the attendance of the new Attorney General Ken Baddon and welcomed him back to St Helena. He went on to say that although his time as Acting Governor will be only two weeks, it is a crucial time for St Helena Government. Acting Governor Styles said that he will endeavour to make further progress, with continuing help and support of LegCo and H.O.Ds, on Modernising Government as he feels progress needs to speed up on this issue. He also thanked his wife Lynnette for her strong support and said, “I don’t know where I would be without her”. Acting Governor Styles also mentioned that he looks forward to the arrival of Governor Clancy whom he feels will be a great asset to St Helena. The evening ended with Champagne and refreshments.
Public Relations/Information Office, Office of the Chief Secretary, 30th Sep 2004
OCS - Staff Development Day.
(7/10/04)
On Tuesday 5th October OCS held their Staff Development Day at the Police Club. A Staff Development day provides an opportunity for all staff to come together in a relaxed and informal environment with a view to furthering personal development. It is a day to learn more about the department and how each staff member contributes to achieving its aims and objectives and to comment on current practices and to make suggestions for improvements in any area of work.
The day began with tea and coffee and a Welcome introduction by Mrs Ethel Yon, Acting Chief Secretary. Pamela Young, Director of Tourism, conducted the first fun activity for the day, which was used as an icebreaker to get everyone relaxed and comfortable with each other.
On to some serious business, Ethel Yon gave an overview of the department’s business plan, and then each Head of section gave a presentation of how their section contributes to the business plan. At the end of the presentations everyone was split into groups to discuss how staff contribute to achieving the objectives in the business plan and a speaker was nominated to put their conclusions forward.
Sharon Wainwright, Access Project Manager was then invited to give a speech on career development. Sharon kindly gave up some of her time to talk about how she climbed up the career ladder starting at the bottom and progressing through the ranks to achieve a Masters Degree in Business Administration (MBA), which is a great achievement. Sharon said “if you’re ambitious and committed, the opportunities for success are certainly out there”. Sharon is a perfect example of a ‘saint done well’. Staff recognised that they too can aspire to receiving a qualification of this kind or similar with dedication and commitment.
Gillian Francis, Acting Deputy Secretary gave a refresher presentation on Investors in People, explaining how OCS are Investors in People compliant and how they achieve this through being staff focused, encouraging training courses for personal development and recognising personal achievements etc. which in turn helps staff to contribute to achieving the aims and objectives of the department.
Lunch time - an appetising lunch was provided for staff to enjoy either outside in the sunshine or in the hall. After lunch, staff were split into groups for another fun activity in the form of a brainteaser, each group were given a tricky problem to solve most groups solved their brainteaser with much laughter and friendly debate.
Ethel Yon then introduced another group activity, which was entitled ‘making your department work for you’. Each group wrote down their thoughts on how the department could be changed/improved to work better for them. There was a number of suggestions some of which had resource implications but all will be considered and it is hoped that the department will be able to accommodate some if not all.
Acting Governor John Styles arrived to update staff on Modernising Government and took the time to answer questions and concerns raised by staff. The day ended with tea and refreshments and a closing speech by Ethel Yon. Staff were given a questionnaire to fill in to evaluate the events of the day. Overall it was an enjoyable and educational day, the atmosphere was great.
Public Relations/Information Office, Office of the Chief Secretary, 6th Oct 2004
