Road Town, Tortola - Project Manager with the Ministry of Finance’s Project Support Services Unit (PSSU), Ms. Shaina M. Smith, said that the panel discussion held last Thursday, had begun “fostering a new awareness of sustainable development.”
In an interview with the Department of Information and Public Relations, the PSSU manager said, “Presenters gave sound arguments for sustainable development, and I very much appreciated the comments and questions coming from the audience, who were in full support of the discussion.”
During her introduction, Ms. Smith said, “The fundamental role of government is to enable sustainable development and to deliver services in an efficient and effective manner; and its core function is to establish the social and legal framework for sustainable development. It requires decisive planning action and cannot occur on its own without some type of framework.”
She continued, “When we speak about development, there is the misconception that this refers to economic development or physical development, and the environment and social aspects are minimised or sidelined.”
In his welcoming remarks, Financial Secretary, Mr. Neil Smith stressed the importance of efficiency in projects. He said, “We know that we need to develop, but in order to get the most bang for our buck, and to keep the debt burden as low as possible, we need to implement projects through proper planning in order to develop in an efficient manner. This is one of the issues the Ministry of finance is concerned with.”
“I can tell you with authority that many of the development initiatives that we embark upon can probably be done for 60 to 75-percent of what they actually cost. This means that 25 to 40-percent of funds were not utilised in the most efficient manner. We have heard the phrase of doing more with less – it is not a joke. It is something we have to do for our survival,” said Mr. Smith.
The financial secretary also encouraged the creation of a development strategy for every project undertaken. He said, “What we want to take from the discussion is the absolute importance for a cogent development strategy and an implementation plan that is extremely efficient. We also need these initiatives to be effective.”
Director of Internal Audit, Mr. Wendell Gaskin was a speaker on the panel. He said, “In the Virgin Islands, it is time for us to begin the process to achieve the environmental, economic and socio-political sectors of sustainability working in harmony.”
Ms. Shannon Gore, Marine Biologist with the Conservation and Fisheries Department delivered a presentation entitled, “Measuring Development Sustainability.” Ms. Gore’s presentation and others received many positive comments and fuelled debate about the state of the Territory’s environment with respect to development.
Other presenters included Architect with A.R. Potter and Associates Ltd., Ms. Avaline Potter; Associate Director of BCQS, Mr. Kevin Drysdale; Secretary of the VI Contractors Association, Mr. Greg Hodge; and Chief Architect of the Public Works Department, Mr. Jose DeCastro. Mr. Bennett Smith acted as the co-moderator, alongside Ms. Smith. The discussion was held at the Moorings Conference Room.
At the end of the session, Ms. Smith indicated that more panel discussions will be held in the near future to continue to raise public and private sector awareness of the importance of planning in securing the sustainable development of the territory.
For more information, please contact the Project Support Services Unit via telephone at 494-3701 ext. 4252 or 4253.
The Project Support Services Unit was established by the Ministry of Finance to implement and maintain a system of project management policy and procedures to ensure the effective and efficient management of all government projects, with the goal of achieving value for money.
The term sustainable development first came to prominence in 1987 when the World Commission on Environment and Development (the Brundtland Commission) produced a report for the United Nations called ‘Our Common Future’. In the report, sustainable development is the "development which meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs."
British Virgin Islands News