Gov’t depts move to old Walkers building
Old Walkers building on Mary Street
(CNS): The Department of Counselling Services (DCS) and two of its units have relocated to the old Walkers building, 87 West Apollo House on Mary Street, George Town, and it is understood that parts of the new WORC agency and some police departments are also expected to move there in the coming weeks. Officials confirmed in a press release Friday that the Family Resource Centre (FRC) and the Counselling Centre (TCC) have moved into the old offices of the law firm.
The decision to move the two DCS departments was because they have mutual clients. It also serves several long-held goals.
“Given that FRC and TCC run some complementary services, it helps to have both parenting and counselling-related services sited in the same building,” said FRC Programme Coordinator Charmaine Miller. “Clients can now move from one section of the department to the next to access enhanced services more easily than ever.”
The new location is more spacious than their former open-plan offices on North Sound Road, so FRC’s parent coaches now each have their own offices to allow for individualised parenting services for families in more private settings. And with the increased space, the FRC has the flexibility to run more programmes in future.
Hours have been increased to:
Mondays and Fridays from 9:00am to 1:00pm
Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9:00am to 7:00pm
Wednesdays from 9:00am to 4:00pm
“The move is already promoting more collaboration between our agencies,” said DCS Director Judith Seymour. “Another advantage is that we have been able to greatly increase face-to-face meetings with clients. Previously both the FRC and TCC found that there was high demand on the one evening we offered walk-in services after regular working hours.”
She added, “We have now added a second evening and opened up other spaces during the week. In addition, other changes have made our office hours more responsive and more client-friendly while allowing greater scope for synergy between our programmes.” she added.
Category: Government Administration, Local News, Politics
Would love to suggest building a govt building east to reduce rental cost and improve congestion (other departments can be moved east). But after seeing the cost of the school it may be cheaper to rent in high rent GT.
How can they afford the rent?
I recall the new Govt Admin Building was meant to reduce the cost to Government of paying rent, yet we now have innumerable Govt departments located in privately owned properties all around George Town and it’s worse than before. Time the Auditor General looked at who owns these properties as I hear many have civil servant connections.
I have zero problem with this move. It makes sense to me.
Now, on a more pressing but related issue, I propose that we move Legislative Assembly to the warehouse next to Mount Trashmore, until there are positive measurable changes to this national disgrace.
Nice for Walkers that they finally got some more Government money for their old building. Glad to see EY Report pork is still on the menu.
Walkers don’t own the building.
Why the thumbs down? It’s a fact. You can confirm yourself inspecting by the records at Lands & Survey.
Lots of stupid people who do not like basic facts.
Owned by Jamaican businessmen who leased it to Walkers.
Thanks Mac
Walkers never owned the building. They were renting all those years.
So we have a multi-million-dollar new Government Administration building with empty space on each floor, and still have to go out and pay rent? The whole point of the new Admin. Building was to bring all government departments under one roof and stop paying rent for offices scattered all over the place.
Social Services is the most chaotically operated part of Government at the best of times; one of their biggest complaints is that they don’t have enough funding to do the job properly. But apparently they do have enough to pay rent!
What about the confidentiality of clients? Why move those services into a building with other departments (WORC & some police departments?)
Ah, so expatriates unable to support themselves are worried that immigration officials might see them?
Just like you were so worried you remained anonymous………..
i hear the previous tenants were complaining of mold in that building? hope it checked out properly???
Don’t hold your breath for that. Just a cursory spring cleaning by a tin pot remediation team should fix it. After that, there’s a dumbass rogue HVAC contractor in town that will put in a new system which will create the perfect atmosphere for mold to propagate again. Maybe it’s time to lay waste to half of GT core as there are a growing number of sick buildings there.
HVAC industry certification and regulation has to come soon, this might solve half the problem.
Mould was one of the major reasons why the previous tenants moved out 6 years ago. The problem began after Hurricane Ivan hit and progressively became very bad like most of the other buildings in that area that survived Ivan.
Sick buildings built before 2004 are abundant in that area and should be brought down.