Customs Officers on Montserrat Take Part In Training Exercise

Customs Officers on Montserrat this week took part in a training exercise that was designed to refresh staff, expose them to new procedures, and also to equip them with the knowledge and skills to work across other areas within the Division.

This year's training which ran from July 13-18 was focused on number key areas:

i. Monday 13th Customer service- the evening session was done by Ms Annmarie Dewar
ii. Tuesday 14th Work Ethics- conducted by Professor Sir Howard Fergus
iii. Wednesday 15th – Writing and presenting witness statements- presented by Police inspector Albert Williams
iv. Thursday 16th – Boarding and searching (Rummaging) of ships of all kind- Theory
v. Friday Morning and afternoon 17th - Practical exercise – Boarding and searching ( Rummaging) of ships in Port Little Bay
vi. Friday evening – Practical exercise to take place in a mock court- On in giving evidence, court conduct and presentation of statements
vii. Saturday –practical exercise in Boarding and searching (rummaging) continuation

Peter W. A. White, who is the Acting Director General of the MCRS commented on the training exercise:

“This year’s training programme was coordinated by Deputy Comptroller of Customs Mr Derrick Lee. Once again this year’s sessions for the most part have been taking place in the evenings as it is very difficult to get all customs staff together during the work day without having to close the stations at the Port, the airport and the post office for this purpose. Closing the stations for two or three hours a day for a week would certainly interrupt GoM revenue collection, people clearing goods and parcels and would have disrupted trade in general which would have a negative effect. The sessions were well attended by all staff and we appreciate that they all gave of their personal time in the evening to attend work related training and this is something we don’t take for granted."

Also attending the training sessions were selected staff members from the Inland Revenue Division - for the Customer Service and Ethics sessions.

Also, Officers from the Police Marine Branch also took part, for Boarding and Searching (Rummaging) theory and practical session

Additionally, members for the Integrated Border Security Unit (Joint Customs and Immigration Unit) attended all the sessions.

The resource person for the Boarding Searching (Rummaging) component of the training was done By Mr Brian Mills from St Kitts Customs, assisted by specific officers from the Monserrat Customs.

Special thanks is extended to the Training Division of HMRU, Montserrat. Also to the St Kitts Customs. Thanks also to the Hon. David Osborne for allowing Customs officers to conduct searching training on his boat. Thanks to all the presenters, and to the Royal Monserrat Police Service (RMPS) for use of their boat to access ships coastwise.