RICS Americas is pleased to confirm that five individuals from four different Caribbean islands submitted their nominations for election to the RICS Caribbean Board. The voting period will run from 7 pm ET on Monday October 31, 2011 through 5:00 pm ET on Monday November 21.
Eric Allen MRICS, Kingston, Jamaica
James Andrews FRICS, George Town, Grand Cayman
Andrew Mallalieu MRICS, Christ Church, Barbados
Peter Morris FRICS, Port of Spain, Trinidad & Tobago
Ian Rollitt FRICS, Bridgetown, Barbados
Voting is open to all active and retired MRICS, FRICS and AssocRICS in good standing. Each member is able to vote for up to two individuals to join the RICS Caribbean Board by election. An additional two seats are available to individuals through a selection process described here.
State the Chair of the Caribbean Board Sanjay Amin FRICS, “I am looking forward to working with a Board that will aim to fulfill several goals in the Caribbean region including better communication with the members and more Chapter events in the various jurisdictions."
The five candidate statements are listed below. Members will be invited via email to vote for up to two of the five candidates via an online survey.
Members with limited access to the internet can also vote via post, fax or telephone. More details are available from RICS Americas contact Jessica Horan at +1 646 786 8354.
Candidate names and their seconders are listed in alphabetical order.
Eric Allen MRICS. Chartered Valuation Surveyor. Kingston,Jamaica. Commissioner of Land Valuations, National Land Agency
Proposer: Elizabeth Stair FRICS, Jamaica
Seconders: Donovan Hayden MRICS, Jamaica; Winton Madden MRICS, Jamaica; Connel Steer FRICS, Jamaica; David Thwaites MRICS, Jamaica
If selected to the Board, I would focus primarily on those functions where I could best make a contribution. I am therefore willing to serve in whatever capacity is determined based on the needs and requirements of the Board.
As a team player and consensus builder, I will bring to the Board those skills necessary for agreeing positions/actions. I will however, (if selected) also bring to the Board, critical, independent and impartial thinking to ensure robust debates and discussions.
I will bring to the Board, enthusiasm and integrity and I pledge the support of my time and promise to serve with humility and distinction if selected.
On a professional level, I believe that I bring an extensive knowledge base of professional practice in Jamaica and the Caribbean, having been a member of local and international organisations for almost twenty years, and having served the Association of Land Economy and Valuation Surveyors for many years as secretary and as an executive council and committee member.
I have also lectured extensively at the University of Technology (since 1994) and currently serve as an advisory board member. I am uniquely qualified to address issues relating to standards of education and the relevance of course content.
With an educational background that includes undergraduate and masters degrees from two leading UK universities and having collaborated with and made contact with professionals throughout the commonwealth, I believe also that I possess the necessary understanding of global trends and practices and can therefore execute the objectives of the Global RICS brand at the local Caribbean level.
In my day to day professional life and as Commissioner of Land Valuations, I am intimately involved in overseeing the conducting of Valuations and am therefore cognisant of the real life issues confronting Valuers on a day to day basis. From this vantage point I will be able to bring a keen insight to the Board, particularly as it regards issues of Ethics, and Professional Standards.
As a believer in market transparency, I assisted with and prepared numerous reports on property transactions, and latterly I have been instrumental in making market transactions available to the local practice, for the first time ever. I will therefore bring a keen understanding of how property markets work to the Board.
Separately, having overall responsibility for approximately forty (40) Valuers, I have extensive experience in establishing pathways to further training up to the level of RICS assessments. In this regard, I will bring to the Board (if selected) organisational, coaching and mentoring skills.
In my lifelong commitment to professionalism and service, I have read extensively and garnered enormous knowledge on the RICS rules on Ethics, Standards and Professionalism. Again, I will bring an extensive knowledge base and an ever constant interest in learning to the Board.
Finally, I consider myself fairly advanced in the use of computers and software and would bring to the fore a unique perspective on matters internal and external to the Board.
James Andrews FRICS. Chartered Valuation Surveyor. Grand Cayman,Cayman Islands. Partner/ Director, Andrews Key Ltd.
Proposer: Paul J. Key FRICS, Cayman Islands
Seconders: Uche Obi FRICS, Cayman Islands; Simon Watson FRICS, Cayman Islands; Paul J. Canham MRICS, Cayman Islands; John D. Scott MRICS, United States
It is my belief that strengthening the position of the RICS Caribbean chapter within the international property profession requires growth from the roots. This means that it is important to deliver the message that working toward RICS membership is an excellent career choice to young Caribbean based students who have yet to choose their path. I would be committed to becoming involved in mentoring programs as well as speaking at high schools and community colleges in order to explain how the RICS and the profession have benefited my life.
I also believe that the Caribbean chapter could be more cohesive in ways that we would all benefit from; such as networking with a view toward sharing information, more co-sponsored educational (CPD) events and more communication between the regional membership in general. My work takes me throughout the Caribbean islands, and these activities have connected me with numerous members throughout the region. I have always appreciated the cooperation and information sharing that exists between many of us, and I would be happy to help create committees to promote better communication amongst the regional membership.
I would promote ideas to have joint CPD events in cooperation with other regional organisations such as the Appraisal Institute. I also believe that the Caribbean chapter has a great deal to learn and develop from its place within the Americas region. Although the RICS is the most predominant property consulting organisation in the Caribbean region, a large portion (perhaps the majority) of our client base (outside of the Caribbean) comes from North America rather than from the UK or Europe. Therefore, growth of the RICS's market position in the Americas is crucial to our reputation and market position in the Caribbean.
There are quite a few members in the Americas region who are also members of the Appraisal Institute (like myself), and I believe that we could do more to promote the idea that those members could become more active in the RICS rather than just with the other organisation which they first belonged to. I also believe that the valuation profession in the Caribbean lacks some of the more sophisticated practice elements found in other areas such as North America and Europe. Examples of this include surveyors acting as valuers when in fact they were trained in other disciplines; local and regional lenders who do not know how to engage (or instruct) valuers to perform valuations - much less review them; and the fact that the general quality level of work which is acceptable would not be acceptable in other markets.
In short, I would promote any effort to increase the level of sophisticated understanding of professional valuation practice in the region. With an increased level of sophistication will come a higher reputation of the members in our region, and hopefully limit the number of occurrences where clients hire valuers from outside the Caribbean because they are not comfortable with the quality of the work product.
Andrew Mallalieu MRICS. Chartered Valuation Surveyor. Christ Church,Barbados. Managing Director, Terra Caribbean
Proposer: Kameel Khan FRICS, Trinidad & Tobago
Seconders: Graham Bethell MRICS, Barbados; Jennifer Dunn MRICS, Barbados; Austin Hickey FRICS; Mark Pearson FRICS, Barbados;
I will focus on getting getting RICS bodies in each Caribbean jurisdiction recognized as the governing body for valuers in the area of property valuations. I am passionate about the need to have RICS standards set in all the countries for consistency. Creating regional education opportunities and mechanisms for sharing information between members should also be a focus.
Peter Morris FRICS. Chartered Quantity Surveyor. Port of Spain, Trinidad. Managing Director - Project Management Group Ltd.
Proposer: Mark Hood MRICS, Trinidad & Tobago
Seconders: Kevin Niamath MRICS, United Arab Emirates; Simon Taylor FRICS, United States; Frank Wade FRICS, Trinidad & Tobago; Peter Dare FRICS, Canada
I have been living and working in the Caribbean for approximately 33 years and I am seeing great unfulfilled opportunities for Chartered Surveyors in building construction, the oil and gas sector and in dispute resolution that the RICS could much more actively promote and facilitate. My approach would be to try and make the RICS much more relevant and important to its membership and thereby to enhance the institution.
Ian Rollitt FRICS. Chartered Project Management Surveyor. Bridgetown, Barbados.
Proposer: Stuart Kennedy FRICS, St. Vincent & Grenadines
Seconders: David Ferdinand FRICS, Barbados; Tony Gibbs FRICS, Barbados; Maurice Stoppi FRICS, Jamaica; Chris Soffe FRICS, United States
I believe that the RICS stands for the mark of the qualified Property Professional and the Caribbean requires a strong unified voice in order to lobby governments on issues which affect the professionals in the industry. If elected to serve I would want to see regular meetings of interest to the RICS membership like the one recently attended where guest speaker Stuart v. Kennedy gave a talk to about 60 persons from the construction industry on his experiences. I would like to promote the idea of a RICS regional conference rotating through the islands and Miami. I would also like to promote the setting up of Dispute Review Boards which would include experienced RICS members.
