On the heels of a recent sick-out by some staff of the Social Development Department as a silent protest against the existing working conditions at their current location, the Ministry of Health and Social Development signed a four-month contract that will see the completion of the department’s new offices.

The $385,095.88 contract was signed last Wednesday between the Government and Contractor Organ Barronville to complete the top floor of the building which is located next to the Red Cross, and designated office space for the department. Barronville had previously worked on the building that houses the Road Town Seniors on the ground floor.
Speaking at the signing ceremony, Premier Ralph T. O’Neal said he believed that the building had been completed.
“Sometimes things take a little longer and the time has now arrived and pleased to see Mr. Organ Barronville who has a reputation for good work has won the contract,” said the Premier.

Deputy Premier and Minister for Health and Social Development, Dancia Penn-Sallah, said many were led to believe that the building was completed years ago as she personally recalled receiving an invitation some three years ago for the opening ceremony for the said building.
However, the social development minister said she had a “rude awakening” after she became the minister in 2007 and had a tour of the building. During the tour, she learnt that while the lower floor of the building is being utilized by the seniors of Road Town the top floor though painted and looking good from the outside, inside is just an open space of raw, unfinished concrete.

“Personally since the end of 2007 one of the things I have been trying to do is to have the interior of that building completed and fitted out so that the staff of the social development department will be able to move into it ... Regrettable it has taken all this time,” said the minister.
Minister Penn-Sallah openly thanked the staff of the Social Development Department for their patience in dealing with their current working conditions.
“They are cramped, they are unsuited and it’s also not fair to members of the public not to have any more privacy and adequate facility within which to meet the social workers. I want to pay tribute to them for their patience and for the good work they do notwithstanding the physical conditions that they work under,” Minister Penn-Sallah said.
In response to a question from the media regarding the current relationship between the staff and the ministry on the issue, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Health Petrona Davies said the Ministry has been having “very amicable discussions” with the staff. The Ministry, Davies stressed, will do whatever it can to address these concerns.

“We are committed to ensuring that we improve the conditions of the social workers. We have been in communication with the Chief Social Development Officer and her team to find ways to relieve some of the conditions. And I believe that this new facility will go a long way in helping …”said Davies.

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