With over 25 years of experience of working in finance, a qualified chartered accountant with accreditation from the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) and Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA), Her Excellency Governor Carriere who named Mr. Colin Owen as the candidate selected for the post of Financial Secretary Montserrat, today at a press conference announced Mr. Owen’s appointment to the position.
Mr. Owen is from Britain. His selection several weeks ago met with much criticism which brought some comments of disappointment from the Governor She said then “there was a lot, a lot of discussion – and there was quite an extensive one sided discussion in the Legislative Assembly.”
She was puzzled and wondered about what people are saying, she said, “when they are hinting things about where people come from or the colour of their skin…also mentioned in some of the comments,” she had heard, commenting further, comments have been “unpleasant and divisive”
Announcing that Owen has fully accepted the offer from Montserrat’s Human Resources Unit following his selection in April, she describe Owen further: “Mr Owen is a qualified accountant with a strong background in auditing and project management before his post as the financial secretary for St Helena. Mr Owen was St. Helena’s Chief Auditor and before that held a number of senior Auditor positions in London.”
Governor Carriere speaking to the media about appointment of a new Financial Secretary
She said that she had spoken to Mr. Owen since his acceptance and appointment and Mr. Owen in a statement said: “My family and I are very excited about coming to Montserrat and we’re looking forward to exploring the island getting involved in community life and meeting as many people as possible when we arrive in August. I’m looking forward to working with the honorable premier and other members of government and the public service in the interests of Montserrat and its people we will be sad to leave St Helena and the many friends we have made here but are looking forward to the new opportunities and challenges that Montserrat will provide.”
Governor Carriere congratulated the new Financial Secretary, who takes up his three-year appointment (in the first instance) within the Ministry of Finance and Economic Management. “I congratulate Mr. Owen on his appointment and we are looking forward to welcoming him and his family to Montserrat in August,” she said. Watch the Governor making her statement: (https://youtu.be/Y6il_k0mQMM)
The Governor did not discuss Mr. Owen’s full salary, but one recalls her lamentation following his selection. She now announces there were some novelties in this new appointment. “I would say something that is unusual perhaps about this offer that I’m pleased about,” she began. “…this was something that I suggested and was agreed to,” she continued. “It is that a substantial amount of the salary is tied to achieving on an annual basis a set of criteria and very, very specific ones,” explaining. “So you might call it a bonus, but it is a performance based percentage of the salary will be tied to achieving specific indicators or goals or objectives.”
Miss Carriere said that there has been no determination what they are, “but they will be significant ones and what one would expect a financial secretary to achieve.” She concludes, “So I think this is a really good thing because we are going with the best candidate – because we want that candidate to be delivering; the candidate recognizes that that’s what they’re here to do and we have an arrangement where the salary will be geared towards that delivery.”
Back in April having announced that the selection was made using a competency assessment system, where the candidates were processed. She lamented about the unpleasant comments that flowed and had expressed her disappointment, “…that this recruitment has been the subject of political debate while it was under way, adding, “The appointment of civil servants should never be politicized…” that she feels strongly that what “we don’t need in Montserrat, is to perpetuate an insider outsider approach to what should be an objective merit based decision.”
See related and more at: http://www.themontserratreporter.com/governor-carriere-laments-regarding-the-new-financial-secretary/; and http://www.themontserratreporter.com/next-financial-secretary-selected/
