THA Finance Division defends 'team-building exercise'

Secretary of Health, Wellness and Family Development Tracy Davidson-Celestine urged Tobago House of Assembly employees to exercise wisdom and lead by example, after a video of a team-building exercise held by the Division of Finance and the Economy went viral.

The almost two-minute video showed staff dancing and singing while congregating around tables. Although most of them were wearing masks properly, some had theirs on their chins and some weren't wearing any at all. The event has been condemned by Chief Secretary Ancil Dennis.

But in a media release on Sunday, the Division of Finance and the Economy defended the "team-building exercise."

The division said what was supposed to be an innocent team-building event was "erroneously labelled" by social media users as a party. It went on to say the event did not breach the Public Health Ordinance.

The division said, “The exercise was conducted in the division’s training room, utilising approximately 30 per cent of the room's capacity. It was not a party, and certainly not a Christmas party as suggested. As the close of the event, there was a spontaneous celebration and singing...The momentary lapse and an aberration triggered the celebratory atmosphere reflecting the success of the team-building exercise.”

Davidson-Celestine told Newsday that while she understands change is hard, Tobagonians must dig deep for the discipline required.

She said in a WhatsApp message, “You are responsible for the lives of everyone we come into contact with. We must self-police and self-regulate as individuals. Wear your appropriate face coverings and abide by physical distancing protocols. Urge your friends, loved ones and colleagues, it is the law to wear a mask. If however people continue to flout the regulations and don’t exercise common sense, it will help to spread covid19.

"In order to help curb the spread of this deadly virus, we also depend on each other to care and not cause the death of anyone. We are committed to an environment of tolerance and respect, but we must protect our colleagues and loved ones from covid19.”

Davidson-Celestine said people must desist from social gatherings during the pandemic. The Prime Minister recently ordered the public sector to ban all Christmas parties.

Davidson-Celestine said, “These are difficult times for socialising and feeding the need for emotional connections and camaraderie while working together.

"I am unaware of the details of this instance but we must exercise wisdom and lead by example in the public service.

"I urge all THA employees to wear your mask, observe social distancing and sanitise. Let’s make the extra effort to protect our loved ones, the public and ourselves."

Minority Councillor Dr Faith BYisreal also criticised the event. In a Facebook post, she said the issue is way bigger than the Chief Secretary and the Division of Finance having differing views on this event.

She said, “The critical issue is the fact that even within the Tobago House of Assembly (THA) the activities that increase our risks for contracting covid19 are not fully understood. So yes, this may have been a team-building exercise, but it had the potential to be a super-spreader event – based on what was shown in the video.”