THE Castries Constituencies Council is moving in a new direction as it seeks to improve the services it renders to the four constituencies under its control.
Yesterday at City Hall the CCC held a consultation meeting to prepare a strategic plan on the way forward for the management of various constituencies, namely Castries Central, Castries East, Castries South and Castries Southeast.
Mayor Peterson Francis welcomed the forum saying it will shed light on the relevance, roles and most importantly good governance within the context of the four municipalities.
“I have had the good opportunity to attend most of the consultative meetings hosted by the Ministry of Local Government and other governmental interests which I admit gives perspective into a new system, a new spirit and new practices,” Francis said.
According to him this is a logic encountered in many fields. He added that a system is trusted to a certain extent which protects the smallest or weakest stakeholder.
“It is like a service provider that takes care of its smallest spending customer, or a society that looks after its weakest member. We must lead this stakeholder meeting to success more broadly than maximizing any profitability metric. We must consider and protect the interest of the minority shareholders, which are the people,” he said.
Mayor Francis believes that along with good governance, the interest of various shareholders must be encouraged and recognized and performances evaluated.
“We must inspire rather than stifle innovation and enthusiasm. We must encourage and applaud a long-term perception to understanding preferences, tackling trials and seizing every opportunity,” Francis said.
He called for the strengthening of the Council’s brand by the development of an atmosphere of collective trust, which can be achieved in his opinion, if the recommendations coming out of the forum are widely practiced.
