Jeremy W. Hodge confirmed as PWD Director
Mr Hodge took over from G. Navarro Donovan, who was acting in the post prior to Mr Hodge.
The son of the late legislator, Omar W. Hodge, the new Director of PWD joined the service on March 9, 2004, as an Assistant Human Resources Manager in the HR Department and rose to the post of acting Permanent Secretary in the then Ministry of Transportation, Works and Utilities.
Appointment retroactive
His appointment has been retroactive to November 1, 2022, and Mr Hodge now oversees one of the biggest departments in central Government and the most difficult.
The Director holds a BSC in HR Management with Hons and a CMI Executive Diploma in Management.
PWD has come under public fire on talk shows and other social media platforms over the past year for many potholes in the roads all over the Territory and the lack of bush cutting and ghut clearing.
PWD Mission
According to its website, PWD's Mission is to provide a safe, practical, efficient, economically and environmentally sound infrastructure that is well designed, constructed and maintained in accordance to recognised regional and international codes and standards and is in harmony with the Territory's social and economic goals.
This is done via a number of Units within the Department, such as Accounts, Human Resources, Administration, Building Maintenance, Building Authority, Construction Management, Architecture, Quantity Surveying, Roads and Bridges, Traffic, Construction Engineering, Workshop and Stores.
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28 Responses to “Jeremy W. Hodge confirmed as PWD Director”
Confirm people to their jobs with a set probation period. Stop this foolishness about acting.
Congrats to Jeremy!
And not three guys doing something while two sit and watch.
Not too good at math.
Without an engineering degree, puts any Public Works Director at a severe disadvantage. Without the engineering training, experience, and knowledge, the Director would not have the confidence to ask the right questions and provide technical guidance. Worst, subordinates would be embolden to provide the Director with a 6 for a 9. The Public Works Director must be able to move smoothly and adeptly from being in a ditch one minute to addressing the HOA the next minute. Public Works is a key player in delivering high quality services to BVI residents and all Public Works must provide the best services to the most people.
I do agree that "Public Works must provide the best services to the most people" however your approach reflects the BVI obsession with having people in leadership positions based on their sector specific techincal knowledge who interfere with the operational roles. The director should never be IN a ditch. They should be able to speak with the people workning in a ditch and visiting the projects and providing DETAILED and CLEAR briefings on project progress with projected timeframes, budget compliance, risks and issues
The long-handled screwdrivers operated by leadership in this territory stalls our development and growth.
What should happen:
The leader of the organisation (Public Works in this case) should be a motivator, organiser, direction-setter, policy implementer and decision maker
They make their decisions based on a clear consistent and TRANSPARENT process which involves techincal expertise and EVIDENCE-based decision making
The technical expertise is provided by the engineers, finance team, supply chain experts, risk managers etc who are EMPOWERED to go get the information and provide sensible, COSTED options with an outline plan
The costing of those options includes the revenue spend required over the life of the project eg 80 years of maintenance on a public building
Once the decison has been made and required funds allocated, the engineers and other experts in turn develop a detailed plan and oversee the bulk of the manpower at the 'bottom' of your pyramid who implement the decisons that the top dog has made based on the evidence provided by those techincal experts
IDENTIFY THE NEED, CONCEIVE A SOLUTION, DESIGN, ASSESS, DECIDE, DELEGATE, EMPOWER, EXECUTE, EVALUATE, ADJUST, COMPLETE the project. This is true whether it cutting some bush or building a $500m dollar building....
Common sense would tell you an Engineer should head roadworks similar to a medical doctor heading a hospital.
From my experience having served in several positions within public works organizations, it is my humble opinion that the preferred choice to lead a public works agency is someone with engineering knowledge, training and demonstrated experience/performance. Can non-engineers effectively lead public works organizations? Yes.
Nevertheless, often the public works director is the organization’s chief technical advisor. Moreover, though staff provide invaluable assistance to the director, the assistance/advice is only advisory. The final decision, responsibility and accountability rest with the director. Further, in meetings, HOA, emergency situations, etc, when no staff is around, the director may be asked to provide a technical response to a questions, concerns, etc. All Virgin Islanders and VI residents should provide Mr. Hodge their earnest support as he tackled a challenging and demanding job.
No Engineering experience but confirmed to the post.