More staff changes at HEART / NSTA Trust

There are more staff changes at the HEART /NSTA Trust with Kenesha Campbell being appointed acting deputy managing director effective Monday, April 19. 

There's internal dissent, however, as some staffers believe the project director has been promoted over more experienced candidates. 

It's also the latest such decision since the board's non-renewal of Dr Janet Dyer's contract as managing director last month and the subsequent public emergence of staff groups either loyal to the departed leader or celebrating her exit.  

READ: HEART issues … disquiet at agency after non-renewal of MD’s contract

Campbell will head the National Training & Programmes Division, which controls more than 60 per cent of HEART's annual budget. 

A notice to staff yesterday said Campbell was appointed by the board for her "technical competencies, education, and product knowledge of the organisation, coupled with her personal values".

HEART advertised the position in March 2020.

Last week, Novelette Denton-Prince, senior director for corporate services, was named interim head of the multi-billion-dollar national training agency from April 8 - 30.

Audrey Sewell, Permanent Secretary in the Office of the Prime Minister, where HEART is based, said a recruitment exercise for a managing director is to be launched. 

There's been no update from the Edward Gabbidon-chaired board and whose member, Colonel Martin Rickman, is tipped for the top job. 

It's also not clear what role Dyer will be playing at HEART since she's a permanent government employee.

HEART, whose certification rate has been under scrutiny, is in transition after the functions of three entities were merged into its structure in 2017.

- Jovan Johnson

Follow The Gleaner on Twitter and Instagram @JamaicaGleaner and on Facebook @GleanerJamaica. Send us a message on WhatsApp at 1-876-499-0169 or email us @onlinefeedback@gleanerjm.com or editors@gleanerjm.com.​