St Helena : Discussions on Future Priorities for St Helena
Submitted by Saint Helena Herald (Public Relations Information Office) 01.07.2011 (Article Archived on 15.07.2011)
Councillors, officials and representatives from various non-government organisations assembled at the Jamestown Community Centre on Friday 17 June to discuss the future of St Helena.
Discussions on Future Priorities for St Helena
Councillors, officials and representatives from various non-government organisations assembled at the Jamestown Community Centre on Friday 17 June to discuss the future of St Helena.
With around 50 people in attendance, discussion took place with various address’ by senior officials including Governor Gurr, Acting Chief Secretary Gillian Francis, Director of Strategic Policy and Planning Susan O’Bey, and Public Sector Modernisation Adviser Robin Swaisland.
The event was arranged by Susan O’Bey to identify priority areas for the island to focus on over the next few years. This was done because while Government has short term plans up until the end of March 2012, it now needs to look at what has to be done afterwards. In this regard, the emphasis was on preparing for air access during which time SHG is expecting to see increased investment in infrastructure and tourism related development and increased business and work opportunities for Saints.
At the event, Susan explained that this year, the focus is not so much on planning priorities for Government but planning priorities for the Island. She also said “we are planning for air access therefore it cannot be business as usual.”
In readiness for this major change, participants were asked to look at how key areas might need to develop, how the Island needs to look when the airport opens, and what work needs to be done to achieve this. Discussion focused in particular on health, agriculture, tourism, transport, education, social development, utilities and essential infrastructure.
Participants also focused on the challenges and opportunities St Helena will face over the next three to five years. These ranged from the impacts of the recession and increasing world prices, to opportunities for private sector development. There was also some discussion about how the Island has changed over the years with development, but largely at the cost of many people having to leave for offshore employment.
During the day it was explained by Susan that all of the planning has to be done with awareness of the need for Government to become more efficient and effective and for the Island as a whole to increase productivity. She also spoke about budgets, how the Island’s recurrent budget is expected to become tighter and how St Helena needs to find ways to save for future investment.
As the day progressed, discussion moved on to some of the more detailed areas that will need exploring while identifying national priorities for the next three years. All of this will feed into the next Sustainable Development Plan which will contain details on what the Island will focus on and what will be done to move things forward. The new Sustainable Development Plan will articulate the longer term vision for the island and a draft is due to be completed by December 2011.
The next steps will be for Executive Council to approve the revised policy framework and the planning priorities to inform the next round of directorate strategic planning and budgeting for the three year period commencing 1 April 2012.
Public Relations/Information Office
The Secretariat
20 June 2011
|
