13 ministers affected

By RIA TAITT

In what is undisputably the largest shift in a Cabinet reshuffle in the country's history, Prime Minister Patrick Manning adjusted the portfolios of 13 of his ministers, added three new ministerial faces to his team and left very few members of his Government untouched.

In the reconstruction of the Cabinet, the leading loser was Howard Chin Lee. He lost the substantial and significant portfolio of National Security, and was assigned the less prestigious and less taxing Tourism Ministry. Manning's announcement to the Parliament that the Cabinet changes take effect on Monday, means that Chin Lee would perform his final errand (as National Security Minister) this weekend when he welcomes former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani to the country. The prime winners in the re-organisation are Martin Joseph who was elevated from Housing to National Security Minister and Camille Robinson-Regis, whose vigorous defence of consumer rights as Legal Affairs Minister probably factored in her promotion to Planning and Development Minister. Pennelope Beckles advanced from Culture and Tourism to the Public Utilities portfolio. Joan Yuille-Williams was also treated kindly, getting an expanded portfolio of Community Development and Culture along with a new Junior Minister, Diane Seukeran.

While the Prime Minister, for the most part, was generous to the womenfolk, the only person dropped from his Cabinet team was a woman - Attorney General Glenda Morean, whose posting to London Manning confirmed yesterday. The Prime Minister at the same time announced that John Jeremie, Head of the Faculty of Law of the University of the West Indies will join his Government as the new Attorney General. He would be sworn in on Monday. Senior member of the Cabinet, Dr Keith Rowley, was shifted laterally from Planning and Development to Housing. However, his colleague Colm Imbert was relieved of the difficult and critical Health portfolio and given the more futuristic-looking Science, Technology and Tertiary Education portfolio, which is generally perceived to be of a lower status than the Health Ministry. Imbert said he felt "gratified" to be in a position to influence the development of the University of Trinidad and Tobago. He said as a scientist, an engineer and a former lecturer, science and technology was an area in which he would find it very easy to get "in stride." Saying that he was familiar with the subject area and the personalities involved, Imbert stated he felt very comfortable with his new portfolio. He stressed that the allocation of ministerial portfolios was the absolute prerogative of the Prime Minister who is perfectly entitled to determine who goes where.

Asked how he felt about his change, Rowley said his new ministry was a major challenge ("try building 10,000 houses a year"), especially given Government's commitment to deal with the critical housing shortage and to implement an ambitious programme. "Unlike the Planning Ministry where the output was not tangible, here (in Housing) the measurement is an actual number of units," he said. He added that there was an "interconnection" between the Ministries of Planning and Housing. Asked whether he viewed the movement as a demotion, Rowley quipped: "When I see my pay cheque, I would let you know." Robinson-Regis said it was an "honour" to succeed Rowley as Planning Minister, and that she was very excited about her new portfolio. Also affected in the widespread reshuffle were Jarrette Narine (Local Government) who is now the Minister of Agriculture and John Rahael, who spearheaded the Caroni VSEP plan, moves up to the Ministry of Health. Rennie Dumas takes charge of the Local Government Ministry. His successor, Public Utilities Minister Pennelope Beckles, said the concept of "water for all" was one of the things she definitely wanted to work on, especially for the rural communites.

For the third time in two years, Danny Montano has to pack his ministerial bag. Montano, who started off in Housing in 2001, moved to Science and Technology in 2002 and now in 2003 goes to Legal Affairs, perhaps a novel assignment for a professional accountant. Manning also upgraded his two parliamentary secretaries - Satish Ramroop and Anthony Roberts - making them Ministers of State (non-Cabinet ministers). Ramroop is to be appointed Minister of State in the Ministry of Science, Technology and Tertiary Education, while Roberts becomes Minister of State in National Security. Unaffected in the comprehensive shake-up were Education Minister Hazel Manning; Trade Minister Ken Valley; Energy Minister Eric Williams; Works Minister Frankie Khan; Sports Minister Roger Boynes; Labour Minister Larry Achong; Foreign Affairs Minister Knowlson Gift and Public Administration and Information Minister Dr Lenny Saith. Those ministers who were to be affected were informed of adjustments only about 1 pm yesterday when they were called to individual meetings with the Prime Minister in his room at the Parliament. Just before the start of the Parliament proceedings at 1.30 pm, ministers could be seen chatting vigorously with each other. But when Manning concluded his statement to the House of Representatives yesterday, all MPs joined in supportive deskthumping. Manning stated that as Government passed its largest Budget, the key issue was implementation. He added that it was in pursuit of this objective that he had decided to make the Cabinet changes.