Wednesday 5th August, 2015
MEDIA RELEASE
The Division of Agriculture, Marine Affairs, Marketing and Environment (DAMME) emerged as the winner of the Comprehensive Economic Development (CEDP) Secretariat’s Green Office Week Challenge, with the Division of Infrastructure and Public Utilities placing second and the Division of Settlements and Labour capturing third place. The presentation ceremony took place on Wednesday 5th August, 2015 at the CEDP Secretariat’s Office and the team leaders from all the participating Offices were present for the announcement.
The Green Office Week challenge was held from Monday 20th to Friday 24th July, 2015 and saw seven Divisions of the Tobago House of Assembly and the Tobago Emergency Management Agency vying for the challenge trophy. The participating Offices dedicated an entire week to environmental conservation in keeping with the first strategic priority area of CEDP 2.0, Branding Tobago: Clean, Green, Safe and Serene. The CEDP Secretariat participated in the activities of the week but did not compete for the challenge trophy.
The complete results for the challenge are as follows (Out of 100):
Division of Agriculture, Marine Affairs, Marketing and Environment- 98.75
Division of Infrastructure and Public Utilities- 97
Division of Settlements and Labour- 80.6
Division of Tourism and Transportation- 73.6
Tobago Emergency Management Agency- 71.25
Assembly Legislature- 69.25
The CEDP Secretariat is both proud and impressed with the creativity and commitment from all the participating Offices and stresses that even though DAMME emerged with the most points, all the Offices are winners.
The week was indeed a success and staff members implemented energy reduction methods, car pooled to get to their Office, recycled, reduced their paper consumption and utilized their creative abilities to produce environmentally friendly innovations. Based on the submissions that the CEDP Secretariat received from each Office on how they implemented Green initiatives, the Secretariat wishes to state with resounding confidence that staff members are now more environmentally sensitive and can proudly say that they have played their part to ensure that Tobago is Clean, Green, Safe and Serene by being the change that they want to see.
It is hoped that each Office will continue to implement Clean, Green, Safe and Serene initiatives even though the Green Office Week has ended. Most of the participating Offices have indicated that they are interested in not just participating in future green initiatives but have expressed that they will also be proactive in implementing green initiatives at the Office . The CEDP Secretariat is extremely pleased with the response and all Offices have the full support of the Secretariat for any such initiative.
The Secretariat also wishes to thank the Solid Waste Management Company Ltd. (SWMCOL) for their invaluable assistance on Waste Wednesday and looks forward to working with the Company on future initiatives.