The Customs and Excise department has its very first female Comptroller. She's Estelle Leslie, a public servant who's been with the department for 32 years.
Leslie says that the defining moment in her career came in 2008 when she was asked to be a part of the reform and modernization of customs. And It was in that role, "functional officer", that she acted as a change agent and helped to move the department into the technological era by introducing the ASYCUDA World system.
It meant that Customs could move away from 100% examination to a reliance on risk management of high-risk shipments, and, ultimately, a more efficient way of doing business. And today more than a decade on Leslie officially took her seat as comptroller. We caught up with her in her brand new office to ask her how it feels to be the head honcho at Customs.
Leslie has a master's degree with distinction from UWI.
