DEH officer top employee for February
Department of Environment Health staff (back rows) celebrate colleague Derrick Williams (front, second from right) as he receives his certificates from (front, L-R) Ministerial Councillor Roy McTaggart, DEH Director Roydell Carter, Deputy Governor Franz Manderson and Jennifer Ahearn, chief officer in the Ministry of Health and Culture
(CNS): Environmental health officer Derrick Williams has been awarded the Cayman Islands Government February employee of the month for being most helpful and dedicated to customers. Deputy Governor Franz Manderson, in a government press release, acknowledged Williams for his service at the Department of Environmental Health (DEH). “You serve as a role model for all Cayman Islands civil servants. I would like to thank you for your work ethic and the level of commitment you have to your job within the environmental health district team,” he said.
The deputy governor’s award programme was developed as an internal scheme to recognise civil servants who exceed expectations.
Williams has been described as a focused individual who produces the best possible results for the people of the Cayman Islands. During the 2014/15 financial year, Williams’ unit was reduced by two staff – one was promoted and the other retired. Despite this reduction, he completed the “herculean” tasks of what three people once produced, including monitoring more than 1,000 inspections and producing 526 reports; dealing with 120 complaint investigations along with seven cosmetology training sessions for 118 persons; and serving 33 public health abatement notices for various nuisances.
Additionally, he worked with other government agencies to assist with several programmes, including inspection work related to the hotel licensing board for guest houses and condominiums; annual inspections of schools and pre-schools; and the barber salon monitoring programme. He also worked with the food safety team and conducted 59 inspections of locally slaughtered animals.
The press release added that Williams continues to carry out his work and has willingly gone above and beyond his regular duties. Due to a vacancy in the Sister Islands he started visiting those islands regularly to ensure the provision of adequate environmental health services. Despite his extensive workload, Williams still finds the time to coordinate the DEH football team, and was the department’s staff member who recorded the most steps during the recent Government-run pedometer challenge.
“It is obvious that Mr Williams doesn’t see his position as a job,” said DEH Director Roydell Carter. “Throughout these trying times, Mr Williams carried all his extra duties with enthusiasm, passion and commitment; he was always looking at ways to improve and to be helpful to the customers he serves. On behalf of the DEH’s staff, I congratulate Mr Williams for his dedication and success; also for being the first DEH staff to receive the DG Award.”
Ministry of Health and Culture Chief Officer Jennifer Ahearn also praised Williams. “On behalf of the entire ministry team I want to congratulate Mr Williams for this well-deserved recognition. His ‘can-do’ attitude and infectious smile make him a valuable member of the DEH team, and the work that he does is tremendously important to the health and safety of the Cayman Islands.
“A big thank you to Mr Williams and the team at DEH for their continued hard work and commitment – please keep up the great work, and keep smiling.”
Category: Civil Service
There are so many excellent civil servants and I thank our DG for recognizing them.