Page 16 T he Government of M has created a new Immigration Department new department is expected to provide professional, efficient and robust Immigration services that bolster the border security of Montserrat. The Montserrat Immigration Department was previously a department of the Police Service. Over the last 10 years it operated as a pilot programme as part of th Integrated Border Secur Unit (IBSU), staffed with from Customs and Police O is now a department of the Premiers portfolio. Permanent Secretary in the Office of the Premier, (PS) Ms. Daphne Cassell, had stated earlier: In 2023, a policy decision was taken to have the Immigration Department separated from the police as an independent unit. The current staffing complement is eight, with six members who are former Police Officers and one from Customs. The current areas of focus include: processing of passengers at the borders, issuance of visa extensions to non-nationals, vetting of work permit applications, collecting of government revenue and conducting field work, in conjunction with the Labour Department to monitor compliance. PS Cassell sought the assistance of CARICAD to provide technical assistance to the new Immigration Department to create a Strategic Framework for the new department as a precursor initiative to assisting the department with Strategic and Operational Planning. Executive Director of CARICAD, Mr. Devon Rowe, acceded to the request and assigned CARICAD’s Supplementary Associate Franklyn Michael to the task. CARICAD’s Supplementary Associate Franklyn Michael. He facilitated the three agreed working sessions on August 20, 21 and 27. Mr. Michael collaborated with available staff of the Immigration Department and the ice of the Premier under the leadership Cassell and Chief on Officer (CIO) pson to complete the task. In addition to facilitating the creation of the framework, Mr. Michael was able to: 1. Discuss the key concepts and practices associated with Strategic Planning (SP) 2. Introduce, describe and discuss the CARICAD approach to Strategic Planning 3. Introduce the CARICOM Results Based Management (RBM) approach to long-term planning The informal working group was able to create a Strategic Framework comprising: Statements of Mandate, Vision, Mission and Values. They were also able to identify Key Result Areas (KRAs) and priority work areas for each KRA. The Framework was set in a Strategic Management context. Both PS Cassell and CIO Thompson expressed their • Continues on next page
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