ROADTOWN Tortola BVI, June 28th, 2012 – Communications officers throughout the public service have committed themselves to ensuring a well-informed public, following completion of a press release training facilitated by Director of Communications Mrs. Arliene T. Penn.
The training held on Friday, June 15 is part of Government’s communications strategy aimed at assisting officers with improving their relationship with the public.
In a surprise visit to the training session, Premier and Minister of Finance Dr. the Honourable D. Orlando Smith, OBE told officers he fully endorses the enhancement training seminar which is aligned with Government’s communications mission: To build a ‘people Government’ through listening, collaborating, consulting and communicating.
“We are committed to ensuring that the people of these Virgin Islands are well-informed about Government’s business,” Honourable Smith said. “We strongly believe in not just information sharing, but accurate information sharing.”
He said, “Any opportunity for communications officers to sharpen their skills in all areas is welcomed,” adding, “The better we are at communicating, the more informed those we serve will be.”
At the start of the training, Permanent Secretary in the Premier’s Office Mrs. Rosalie Adams encouraged officers to work together in order to accomplish consistent messaging throughout the service.
She said, “Government is depending on you to get the message out in the most efficient and effective way possible.”
Mrs. Adams also spoke of Government’s communications strategy and the broadening of the director of communication’s portfolio to include all Government ministries. This she says would ensure coordinated communications across the service.
In an interview with the Department of Information and Public Relations, Mrs. Penn said Government’s communications vision crosses the ambit of all ministerial portfolios. She explained that the information must be well co-ordinated, effectively managed and responsive to the diverse information needs of the public.
Mrs. Penn stated that Government is in the business of informing, educating, and explaining the projects, programmes, plans, policies, initiatives and legislations in an informative way.
“As officers, it is important that we rise to the new trend in communications, where people always want to be in the know,” said the communications director. “They want to know how the decisions Government make affects them, and officers have to write about these decisions in a clear and concise way.”
She further added, “We recognise that we have to make the information digestible to the public by communicating with them and not at them...and when questions are asked of Government every attempt is made to respond appropriately and honestly, and more so timely and accurately.”
The all-day training seminar which was held at the Training Division’s conference room included officers from Department of Information and Public Relations, BVI Tourist Board, Water and Sewerage Department, Solid Waste Department, Health Services Authority, Department of Disaster Management and the Royal Virgin Islands Police Force. Pastor Howard Simon of the BVI Seventh-day Adventist church gave a motivational talk to officers encouraging them to take advantage of the training so they can reach their fullest potential.
There will be several training sessions in different areas of communications for officers across the public service at all levels. This training initiative is coordinated through the Premier’s Office, the ministry responsible for information.
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