Basseterre, St. Kitts, February 12, 2016 (SKNIS): The Department of People Empowerment intends to live up to its pledge to arm individuals with the necessary skills and/or resources to be successful in life.
On this week’s edition of Working for You,” Director, Duncan Wattley, referenced the old adage “teach a man to fish and you feed him for life” and said this was his professional goal.
The ‘basic meaning of empowerment refers to the process of enabling communities or people to increase control over their lives,” Mr. Wattley said. “Whether it is to buy a car to get to work on time, whether it is [higher] education, so that you can move up the social ladder, whatever it is, we must get people involved in doing stuff that they can take full control of their lives.
This spans activity in economic and social spheres which Mr. Wattley said is also directly linked to political growth.
“We need to now become mature,” he said. “Now that is a part of the whole thrust of this department. To educate people, to bring people up to speed, to let them know that this is our country, our Federation and we can have a say. It doesn’t matter what side of the divide you find yourself. Get involved in the whole activities within your communities and if you do that it means then that our communities can help to impact the decision making processes of the government.”
Director Wattley said the staff within the Department of People Empowerment will work to promote cohesion and ultimately strengthen the collective voice of residents within the respective communities.
“This is about making a difference and we are suffering from that now because too many people are sitting back, feeling isolated [as though] ‘I am not a part of what is happening in my community,’” he said. “…I am about action, I want to see things happen quickly.”
Mr. Wattley said the diaspora has an important role to play in shaping the operations of the Department of People Empowerment and he will be reaching out to them in due course.
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