A team from the Ministry of Home Affairs, Transportation and Communication which included the Minister, Honourable George Lightbourne, Head of Secretariat, Mrs Bridgette Newman and Post Master General, Mrs. Elizabeth Garland James returned to the country on Sunday, July 3 2016 following their participation in the 19th Annual Caribbean Postal Union’s Conference hosted by the Postal Administration in Bridgetown, Barbados from June 27- July 1 2016.
The Conference was held under the theme, “The Future Post: Standardisation Towards Keeping Post Relevant” and was attended by Ministers and Postal Representatives from around the Caribbean, the United States, United Kingdom, France, Canada, Belgium, Switzerland, the Netherlands as well as representatives from CARICOM.
The strategic objective of the Conference was the effective transitioning of member Posts towards a viable future and at the end of the sessions it was hoped that the Union would:
- Develop strategies that would create a paradigm shift with respect to human resource management and development
- Products and markets development
- Posts remaining relevant to their customers at the national and regional level.
The Union also explored issues around the improvement of parcel delivery and Ecommerce opportunities. The week of activities included a number of plenary sessions, a panel discussion, workshop and closed sessions. The Union’s Work Plan and Budget were presented to member states and the election of the Secretary General and Management Board also took place.
While at the conference the delegation met with the newly elected Director General of the Universal Postal Union, Mr. Bishar Hussein and his Deputy to discuss plans for the Union as well as issues relating to 26th Postal Congress which is slated to be held in Istanbul, Turkey later on in the year.
The 3rd Meeting of the Council of Caribbean Ministers of Postal Affairs convened on Friday, July 1, 2016 at the Accra Beach Hotel & Spa, where ministers met to discuss and share ideas as to the way forward for the Postal Union collectively and their individual countries.
Hon. Lightbourne had the pleasure of being nominated and elected as the Deputy Chair for the Ministers’ meeting and was called on to chair the latter half of the meeting as well as the Ministers’ Caucus.
He stated; “It was indeed an honour to have been nominated and elected to serve as Deputy Chair for the 3rd Council of the Caribbean Ministers of Postal Affairs Meeting and the experience of chairing the Ministerial Caucus and a session will be cherished. My colleagues and I deliberated on a number of important issues concerning Postal matters universally as well as in our respective countries. It was a beneficial exchange of ideas as to the way forward so that our Postal Services continue to remain relevant and that we do our part to ensure the development of new and innovative means to supply the needs of those who most need our services.”
The Minister went on to note that he was impressed by the level of commitment and dedication of the Postmasters and this was evident by the fervour with which they discussed their issues. With all the advances in technology he had not realised the important role that the Postal Administration played in so many countries.
The Minister also took the opportunity to once again offer his thanks and appreciation to the Post Master General for the Turks and Caicos, Mrs. Elizabeth Garland James and her staff for their continued commitment and dedication to Postal Services in the Turks and Caicos and pledged to continue to lobby for better facilities and working environment for them.
Following the closing ceremony of the Minister’s Conference, a cocktail reception was hosted by the Hon Adriel Brathwaite, Q.C. M.P, Attorney General and Minister of Home Affairs in honour of the visit of the Director General of the Universal Postal Union and the 3rd Meeting of the Council of Caribbean Ministers of Postal Affairs.