Castries – Wednesday, October 26, 2011– The Saint Lucia Air and Sea Ports Authority (SLASPA) held a graduation ceremony for over 60 Port Police Officers who participated in a series of specialized training sessions in customer service in August and September 2011. Facilitated by SLASPA’S in‐house customer service trainer, Ms. Dona Regis, Director of Marketing and Product Development, the training was delivered to Officers based at the Hewanorra International Airport and the Vieux Fort Seaport.

Delivering the feature address to participants, Mr. Sean Matthew, General Manager/CEO said “As a Port Police Officer, you are most often one of the first or last persons that travellers and other customers come into contact with at the Seaports and Airports. While your role is first and foremost the protection of the nation’s Airports and Seaports, you also have a duty to provide excellent service to customers. Since you are often, their first point of contact, you also serve to provide the first impression of the Port Police Department and the organisation as a whole. It is for this reason that strengthening your customer service skills is seen by SLASPA as another major role that you, our valuable Port Police Officers are required to fulfill. I encourage you to embrace and utilize the ideas and techniques presented to you as we become a more service oriented organization.”

At the graduation ceremony, SLASPA also announced the launch of GEM Awards which is a customer service awards program for the Port Police Division. This program gives the Port Police Officers and members of the Port community a chance to nominate Port Police Officers who have exemplified exceptional customer service attributes during the preceding quarter.

The program is slated to commence from January 2012 and winners will be selected from each of SLASPA’s facilities.

Other officials in attendance included Mr. Ben Emmanuel ‐ Senior Director Corporate Affairs & Administration, Mr. Kennedy Francis ‐ Chief of Port Police, Ms. Beverly Dulcie ‐ Manager Employee Development, Ms. Dona Regis, Director of Marketing & Product Development, Mr. Peter Jean – Director of Airports, Mr. Teddy Matthew – Airport Manager, Hewanorra International Airport and Mr. Lenius Lendor – Manager St. Lucia Marine Terminals Ltd.