Minister Gumbs responds to published complaint letter to the Editor on VROMI

GREAT BAY--𝘈𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘯𝘺𝘮𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘝𝘙𝘖𝘔𝘐 𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘺𝘦𝘦 (𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘌𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘰𝘳) 𝘴𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥, 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘧𝘧 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘪𝘤𝘬 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘣𝘭𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘺 𝘮𝘪𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘢 𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘴 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘧𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘮, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘮. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘩𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘥, 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘝𝘙𝘖𝘔𝘐’𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘝𝘚𝘈’𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘧𝘧 𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘧𝘧 𝘰𝘧 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘦𝘳𝘺. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘥𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘴, 𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘺. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘴𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘦, 𝘴𝘦𝘵 𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘥𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘧𝘺 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘝𝘙𝘖𝘔𝘐.

𝐎𝐧 𝐓𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐮𝐛𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐬’ 𝐓𝐫𝐢𝐛𝐮𝐧𝐞. 𝐎𝐧 𝐖𝐞𝐝𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐕𝐑𝐎𝐌𝐈 𝐏𝐚𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐆𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐬, 𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐓𝐫𝐢𝐛𝐮𝐧𝐞, 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝. 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐞 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐛𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐦.

"Thank you for the offer to respond to the letter received by the anonymous VROMI Worker. While I acknowledge the longstanding capacity challenges within the Ministry, I cannot find myself in the suggestions made regarding micromanagement or creating an environment of fear or potential backlash. On the contrary, my management style has been one that supports open communication and co-ownership of work. Earlier in the year, I implemented the practice of drafting memos throughout the permit approval process to foster transparency in decision-making.

This has proven to be one of the Ministry's weaknesses in defending specific permits that have found themselves in court. It also allows persons to document any concerns for consideration in the decision-making process. No request is treated as a scam, but a thorough review of requests is necessary to ensure that what is permitted not only aligns with existing laws and policies but also won't financially burden the country in the future, should the related permit lead to litigation, infrastructural, or environmental challenges.

In addition, there are regular meetings with department heads, individually and as a team, to enhance internal communication and efficiency. One of the challenges is the legal interpretation of the draft zoning law and its application in the permit process. In a recent court verdict, it was determined that, despite zoning not being legally formalized, its application over the past 11 years provides a basis for its use, in conjunction with other ordinances and policies.

This means that several requests made cannot, in fact, be processed as they were in the past. This means that allowing buildings that exceed zoned heights, or garages or incinerators in neighborhoods, cannot be permitted unless well substantiated. Here, we see the value of introducing the memo system and enhancing internal dialogue. This need to provide more information by the staff as to why they advise in a particular way, may differ from what many are used to, and means more effort, but it promotes stronger internal collaboration in VROMI and, more importantly, transparent, sound, and fair decision-making.

In terms of output, quotas were recently put in place, supported with running update sheets, with the expressed explanation that these are goals, that if missed are ok, but must be substantiated. The cabinet has requested all departments to indicate where support may be needed, that could be covered on a short-term basis, given the limitations of the Government's function book and the budget. To date, three of the seven departments have made use of this offer.

While working to enhance productivity to better serve the population, I've also requested the departments also address communication challenges expressed to me by the community, and to provide a monthly update to clients, especially in the area of permits and domain (long lease) matters. This not only helps with task management but also mitigates feelings of frustration that anyone would have with long processes.

I maintain an open door with my Ministry, hence the continuous efforts to address some of the challenges faced concerning capacity and motivation. I always welcome advice on the areas to improve the Ministry, its processes, and the general well-being of the VROMI family. This door remains open, and I encourage all employees, like many before them have done, to reach out. Bringing about positive change comes from open and balanced communication. While I recognize a historical fear of backlash in Government, especially in VROMI, this has never been me or my management style. The door is there, come off the ledge, come in, and let's talk."

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