Minister of Public Works, Desmond Bannister, called on the staff of his ministry not to be complacent. He gave remarks  yesterday  at the opening of the Ministry of Public Works’ 2019 Distinguished Lecture Series.

Mr. Bannister  encouraged workers to this year take initiative, practice greater leadership and tackle issues of complacency.

“When you have a ministry such as this, we want our employees to have the kind of initiative to make things happen, rather than wait for something to go wrong,” he said.

“We can’t wait for air conditioning to go wrong some place; we can’t wait for toilets or bathrooms to go bad;  we can’t wait for elevators to go wrong; we have to have a preventative maintenance program in place, it makes a difference,” he added. 

“We talk about leadership, because we have some outstanding people who we want to step up in their rightful positions as leaders in this ministry and in the country, and we know they can make a difference.

“And we talk about complacency, we can’t be dogged by complacency in this ministry, people are depending on us to make things happen, so we have to assure that we are not complacent in what we do.” 

As the Minister explained, the initiative allows leaders throughout the country to speak to staff, enriching their professional experience.

Minister Bannister expressed hope for members to become a more unified body moving forward. 

“The Ministry of Public Works has an administration building and then we have this area called the northern compound and too often it is felt that there is a division between us,” he said.

“We need to ensure that we pull together as one organization, because we have so many talented staff members who make such a difference in this country every day. That is  important for all of us to be able to work together and to know each other.” 

The lectures take place at the Ministry on Thursdays.