Career History

CONSULTANT-PROJECT MANAGEMENT SPECIALIST ._______________ September 1997 to June 1998
Government of B.V.I Development Planning Unit.

As a consultant to the Central Development Planning Unit of the Government of B.V.I., responsible for the coordination of following activities:

Preparation of project documents, project appraisal and analysis, for the projects being undertaken under the Public Sector Investment Program.

Monitor projects being implemented by the various Ministries to ensure that the work is progressing as per the stipulated time frames and within the allocated budgets.

Conduct economic/environmental impact analysis of the policies and programs adopted by the Government Ministries and Departments.

CHIEF AGRICULTURAL OFFICER _____________________________________ January 1988 to August 1997
Government of British Virgin Islands Ministry of Natural Resources

As the Chief Executive, had Administrative/Technical responsibility for overall management of the Department of Agriculture. The Agriculture Department in the B.V.I. comprises of 85 personnel working within the Divisions of Administration & Accounts, Agr iculture Extension, Livestock Development, Veterinary Services, Agriculture Marketing, Agriculture Engineering, Abattoir and Co-operatives.

Activities fall within the following broad functions:

• Advise/assist Government of B.V.I. in formulating policies and programs relating to Rural Development, Food Production, Land Tenure, Environmental Preservation and Institutional Strengthening.

• Prepare annual work program, coordinate implementation of projects and conduct evaluations.

• Prepare annual budget, allocate budgets to various division and monitor expenditures. The annual budget of the Department of Agricultu re is approximately $ 1.5 million US in Recurrent Expenditures and about $ 0.50 million in Capital Expenditures.

• Design, establish and manage special projects to prove viability of sustainable small \par farming systems in a tourism dominated economy.

• Personnel Management including training of staff and performance evaluation.

• Being the Registrar of Cooperatives promote and administer the registered co-operative.

• Represent the Government of B.V.I. at all the Regional and International forums relating to agriculture and rural development, environment and Cooperatives.

Additional Responsibilities:

• Chairman Pesticides Control Boards Grouping of the member countries of Organization of Eastern Caribbean States.

• Ex-officio member of the Board of Directors of National Parks Trust.

• Member of the Board of Directors; Caribbean Agricultural Research & Development Institute (CARDI)

• Member of National Emergency Advisory Council.

• Member National Sustainable Development Council of B.V.I.

• Chairman National Pesticides/Hazardous Chemicals Monitoring Committee of B.V.I.

• Member of National Integrated Development Planning Committee of B.V.I.

• Serve on the ad-hoc committees established by the Government such as Wages Review Committee, National Physical Development Planning Committee etc.

COUNTRY OFFICER - MONTSERRAT _______________________________ March 1985 to December 1987
Caribbean Agricultural Rural Development Advisory & Training Service (CARDATS)

Regional Project funded by UNDP and executed by CARICOM

Responsible for overall management of CARDATS (Caribbean Agricultural Rural Development Training and Advisory Service) project at National level in Montserrat. Following specific duties were carried out.

• Training rural groups in aspects of Enterprise development, Business Planning, Financial Record Keeping, and Marketing of farm products.

• Training of Extension Staff in aspects of Rural Development and Technology Transfer.

• Administer a Revolving Credit Program designed to assist farmers who do not qualify for regular credit due to lack of collateral. Credit was provided in the form of crop inputs and recovery was linked to sale of crops.

• Procurement and distribution of farm inputs such as seeds, fertilizers & chemicals.

• Prepare project proposals and seek donor funding for commodity based programs

ADDITIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES

At the request of the Government of Montserrat, CARDATS Project Management assigned the following additional responsibilities:

CHIEF EXTENSION OFFICER ____________________________________ February 1984 to December 1987

Responsible for management of Extension Division, preparation of Extension Development Plan, Annual National Production Plans, staff & farmer training.

PRODUCTION CO-ORDINATOR _________________________________ November 1984 to December 1987

Design establish and manage Production Co-ordination Unit (PCU), which was responsible for commodity based programs to meet specific demands of local and export market outlets. Purpose of PCU was to encourage local production and reduce food import bill.

U.N. VOLUNTEER - AGRONOMIST _______________________________ September 1978 to February 1985
F.A.O. of United Nations

Recruited by the United Nations Volunteers and Assigned to Montserrat to Establish the F.A.O./U.N.D.P funded Small Farmer Development Project , CARDATS. Purpose of this project was to transform a core of subsistence farmers into commercially oriented producers. The project operated in the Central District of Montserrat. Following specific duties were conducted.

• Conduct Base Line surveys to ascertain the farm productivity levels.

• Plan and implement an Integrated production & Marketing program

• Conduct intensive farmer training in aspects of crop production and marketing.

AGRICULTURE EXTENSION OFFICER ____________________________ February 1978 to August 1978
Department of Agriculture - Montserrat

While awaiting funding from the F.A.O of United Nations to initiate the CARDATS project, served as an Extension Officer responsible for the Central Agricultural District of Montserrat. Functions included Farmer Training, Marketing Assistance to farmers an d Production Data collection and analysis.

AGRICULTURE SCIENCE TEACHER ______________________________ August 1977 to January 1978
Clarendon College, Clarendon, Jamaica.

Served as Head of Agriculture Science Department, comprising of four teachers. Duties mainly included, preparation of form five students to appear GCE 'O" Level exams in Agriculture Science.

On to Affiliations