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| Senior Engineer, Luther Jordan, (right) explaining some of the workings of the Bridgetown Wastewater Treatment Plant to Minister Dr. David Estwick, while the BWA’s General Manager, Denis Yearwood looks on.(A. Skeete/BGIS) |
Minister of Water Resource Management, Dr. David Estwick, believes that the Barbados Water Authority (BWA) can become one of the premier customer service organisations in the island.
And, he has vowed that government would continue its efforts to bring about reform and institutional strengthening to the department which would benefit both the BWA’s staff and its clients.
Dr. Estwick was speaking following a tour of the BWA’s Bridgetown Wastewater Treatment Plant on Wednesday.
The Minister reported that there had been some success with the reform process and efforts at service improvement, with the department copping second place in the recent NISE customer service appreciation survey.
"This is testimony that the staff is capable, willing and committed to providing the best possible service to the people of Barbados. What we have to do is give them the facilities to be able to function more effectively and by this, I mean proper human resources, proper training and making sure that they have the Information Communication Technology infrastructure, so they can more effectively manage the inputs and outputs within the BWA.
"I think when we move that type of framework to the new BWA headquarters after that is completed in about 18 months or so, I am convinced that the BWA can become number one in terms of service delivery to its customers," Dr. Estwick maintained.
The Minister also suggested that the creation of a dedicated, in-house maintenance division for the BWA, and the implementation of a correct management structure and institutional culture were among other ideas that could go a long way to improving the service to its clients.
"We need to create operation practice and departmental manuals and set those within the framework of what is the overall objective of the institution; what is the sort of culture you want to create in the institution, for example, one of excellence….,It is about] creating a culture from top to bottom where you take pride in your institution…That requires change management within your customer services division?? because these are things that need to be put in place in your institutional framework," Dr. Estwick pointed out.