Successful Two day D.P. Retreat
31-October and 1-November 2015
The Democratic Party of St. Eustatius organized a two day retreat to reflect on the overall functioning of our party and to look for ways how we can improve our performance and better serve the community of St. Eustatius. This retreat was guided by International Development and Management Consultant Mrs. Luesette S. Howell who resides on Trinidad and Tobago. The retreat kicked off with a discussion on national, regional and international concerns and how they relate to St. Eustatius. We spoke about the size of our population, the languages we speak our membership of the OCTA and associate membership of the ACS, the need to diversify our economy and the execution of the economic development plan of St. Eustatius. Our main party priorities: Poverty alleviation and improvement of spending power; Economic development and Tourism and the improvement of our infrastructure were compared with the ideals mentioned in the Islands development plan, the new governing program and the party programs of other political parties. We discussed common areas that the governing coalition and the opposition can work together in the benefit of our Island. We also looked at Strategic thinking, planning and management principles and the need to review the vision and mission of our party. An analysis of our strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats is important when developing our future strategic plans and building the capacity of our team. On Saturday evening the participants of the retreat enjoyed a meal together and socialized at the Ocean View terrace. The final day was centered on what are the core beliefs of the Democratic Party the importance and development of proper leadership, teamwork and governance. After understanding objectives of dialogue and negotiations participants were put to work and created and presented a manifesto that describes the intentions and legacy of the Democratic Party of St. Eustatius. The retreat accomplished the objective of investing in the management and present and future leadership of our party. We can all agree that St. Eustatius will benefit from a higher level of politics and more attention and energy must go towards improving the lives of all Statia citizens. Within short the Democratic Party will reflect on the knowledge gained and make positive changes to our organization. The retreat was closed off with some compassionate words from our party leader Miss Adelka Spanner who thanked our facilitator Mrs. Howell who pleasantly discussed the many topics in the limited time available and all who participated or contributed in some way to the success of the first DP retreat.