Deputy Premier and Minister of Border Control & Labour, Hon. Mr. Christopher Saunders having the ministerial responsibilities for the Department and Labour & Pensions (DLP), Customs and Border Control (CBC) and Workforce Opportunities & Residency Cayman (WORC), Travel Cayman and Utility Regulation & Competition (OfReg) commenced customary tours to three of the Departments (DLP; CBC and WORC) on Friday, 14 May 2021.
At Department of Labour and Pensions, the Deputy Premier was greeted by Director Bennard Ebanks, Deputy Director (Labour) Loval Linwood, Deputy Director (Pensions) Amy Wolliston and Assistant Director Leticia Goring. Having met the team, Minister Saunders spoke about his vision for ensuring the rights for Caymanian employees are protected and the need to improve and enhance the existing pension regime which are at the forefront of his Government’s agenda.
Moving onto the Customs & Border Control Service, the Deputy Premier was greeted by Director, Charles Clifford and the senior management team where he was given an overview of the Department’s efforts in transitioning from a traditional risk averse and gatekeeper culture to that of an intelligence-led and risk management approach to border control. During the visit with the Department, Deputy Premier was able to view a dashboard which was reporting in real time information on the number of imports and revenue collected to date. Additionally, Deputy Premier visited a number of CBC sections including the K9 Unit, the Collections Section and Warehouse, Courier Section In Bond Section, Freight Security Initiative (FSI) Visas & Enforcements, Fraud Unit, the Narcotics team, the CBC Headquarters as well as the CBC team that works at Owen Roberts International Airport (ORIA).
Later in the afternoon, WORC’s Acting Interim Director Laura Watler greeted the Deputy Premier at Apollo House West where he afforded the opportunity to tour the various sections of WORC including Customer Care, Employment Services, the National Training & Development Unit, the Compliance team, Finance, HR and Operations teams and the Work Permit, Cayman Status & Permanent Resident team. The tour ended with the Deputy Premier enjoying a spread of traditional Cayman foods as WORC was celebrating a Culture Day and in attendance were Year 4 & 5 students of the Joanna Clarke Primary school who performed a medley of songs which were thoroughly enjoyed by all. Deputy Premier said “I look forward to working with my various departments to ensure Caymanians are trained and gainfully employed and our borders have the necessary tools and resources required to continue the important role of protecting these beautiful islands.”
In the coming week the Deputy Premier will tour the remaining departments including the WORC Records Team at Cayman Centre, Travel Cayman, and Customs & Border Control at the postal offices and the Port. Furthermore, a trip will soon be scheduled to visit OfReg and WORC and CBC offices in Cayman Brac.
