The Public Works and Communications Ministry recently hosted a one-day workshop to facilitate the merger of its Works Services Group and the Sea and River Defence Department.
According to a Government Information Agency (GINA) press release, Minister of Transport and Hydraulics Robeson Benn told the session titled ‘The Dynamics of Change,’ that there was need for efficient change management and that this would allow the teams to merge efficiently. Meanwhile, in her address Public Service Minister Jennifer Westford told the 20 senior managers that it was necessary to train technical staff in the principles of change management to “gather statistics on performance and follow-up on actions leading to positive change.”
GINA said the Works Services Group deals with the design, procurement, construction supervision and maintenance of Guyana’s sea and river defence structures and its roads and bridges. The workshop is part of a European Union (EU) funded project to harmonise the institutional procedures and processes during the merger. It was also noted that the institutional management culture of the merged entity would need to be redefined and two senior EU experts have been recruited to facilitate this project, which is expected to be completed in December.
According to GINA, the EU is preparing to provide long-term sector support for sea and river defence. The European Development Fund (EDF) has allocated 17 million euros for sea defence in the 9th EDF programme for the period 2008-2012. The possibility of continuing this sector support will be examined for the 10th EDF (2012-2016) early next year, the release said.
