PM realigns Cabinet portfolios

Prime Min­is­ter Kam­la Per­sad-Bisses­sar has re­aligned min­is­te­r­i­al port­fo­lios, mov­ing re­spon­si­bil­i­ty for a wide range of Gov­ern­ment pro­grammes, state en­ter­pris­es and oth­er func­tions among mem­bers of Cab­i­net.

The changes, which took ef­fect on Sep­tem­ber 30, place sev­er­al sig­nif­i­cant re­spon­si­bil­i­ties with min­is­ters who did not pre­vi­ous­ly have them, while re­mov­ing oth­er du­ties from their col­leagues. The changes are set out in the Trinidad and To­ba­go Gazette No. 166, pub­lished on Fri­day.

A ma­jor part of the re­align­ment cen­tres on hous­ing and state en­ter­pris­es.

Land and Le­gal Af­fairs Min­is­ter Sad­dam Ho­sein has been as­signed re­spon­si­bil­i­ty for the Gov­ern­ment Aid­ed Self-Help Hous­ing Pro­gramme (GASHHP), the Hous­ing and Vil­lage Im­prove­ment Pro­gramme (HVIP) and Hy­dro­graph­ic Sur­veys. His ex­pand­ed re­spon­si­bil­i­ties al­so in­clude Ca­roni (1975) Lim­it­ed, Gold­en Grove Buc­coo Lim­it­ed, Pa­lo Seco Agri­cul­tur­al En­ter­pris­es Lim­it­ed (PSAEL), Rin­con De­vel­op­ment Lim­it­ed, Sug­ar Man­u­fac­tur­ing Com­pa­ny Lim­it­ed, the Sug­ar In­dus­try Labour Wel­fare Com­mit­tee, Tau­rus Ser­vices Lim­it­ed and TRIN­TOC Ser­vices Lim­it­ed.

Hous­ing Min­is­ter David Lee will now han­dle mat­ters re­lat­ing to the Home Im­prove­ment Pol­i­cy and the Orop­une Project, while So­cial De­vel­op­ment and Fam­i­ly Ser­vices Min­is­ter Van­dana Mo­hit takes re­spon­si­bil­i­ty for the Na­tion­al Com­mis­sion for Self-Help Lim­it­ed.

The re­align­ment al­so moves sev­er­al re­spon­si­bil­i­ties in the ar­eas of na­tion­al se­cu­ri­ty and dis­as­ter man­age­ment. De­fence Min­is­ter Wayne Sturge has been giv­en re­spon­si­bil­i­ty for Na­tion­al Emer­gency/Dis­as­ter Man­age­ment, the Of­fice of Dis­as­ter Pre­pared­ness and Man­age­ment, the Na­tion­al Em­blems Com­mit­tee and the Na­tion­al Men­tor­ship Pro­gramme.

Home­land Se­cu­ri­ty Min­is­ter Roger Alexan­der has been as­signed re­spon­si­bil­i­ty for the man­age­ment of il­le­gal im­mi­grants and de­por­tees.

In the eco­nom­ic and agri­cul­tur­al port­fo­lios, Fi­nance Min­is­ter Dav­en­dranath Tan­coo takes re­spon­si­bil­i­ty for the Agri­cul­tur­al De­vel­op­ment Bank of Trinidad and To­ba­go, while Rur­al De­vel­op­ment and Lo­cal Gov­ern­ment Min­is­ter Khadi­jah Ameen takes re­spon­si­bil­i­ty for In­sect Vec­tor.

Pub­lic Util­i­ties Min­is­ter Bar­ry Padarath has al­so been giv­en re­spon­si­bil­i­ty for On-the-Job Train­ing.

The changes al­so see sev­er­al min­is­ters giv­ing up re­spon­si­bil­i­ties they pre­vi­ous­ly held. Agri­cul­ture and Fish­eries Min­is­ter Ravi Rati­ram los­es re­spon­si­bil­i­ty for Hy­dro­graph­ic Sur­veys, PSAEL, the Agri­cul­tur­al De­vel­op­ment Bank and Rin­con De­vel­op­ment Lim­it­ed.

En­er­gy and En­er­gy In­dus­tries Min­is­ter Roodal Mooni­lal is no longer re­spon­si­ble for TRIN­TOC Ser­vices Lim­it­ed, while Tan­coo los­es re­spon­si­bil­i­ty for Ca­roni (1975) Lim­it­ed, Sug­ar Man­u­fac­tur­ing Com­pa­ny Lim­it­ed and Tau­rus Ser­vices Lim­it­ed.

Lee is no longer re­spon­si­ble for the Sug­ar In­dus­try Labour Wel­fare Com­mit­tee, while Sturge re­lin­quish­es re­spon­si­bil­i­ty for the man­age­ment of il­le­gal im­mi­grants and de­por­tees.

Alexan­der gives up re­spon­si­bil­i­ty for dis­as­ter man­age­ment, ODPM, the Na­tion­al Em­blems Com­mit­tee and the Na­tion­al Men­tor­ship Pro­gramme. Health Min­is­ter Dr Lack­ram Boo­doe los­es re­spon­si­bil­i­ty for In­sect Vec­tor, while Ter­tiary Ed­u­ca­tion and Skills Train­ing Min­is­ter Prakash Per­sad is no longer re­spon­si­ble for On-the-Job Train­ing.

The Gazette al­so con­firms that the Prime Min­is­ter is no longer re­spon­si­ble for the Home Im­prove­ment Pol­i­cy, HVIP, GASHHP, Gold­en Grove Buc­coo Lim­it­ed, the Na­tion­al Com­mis­sion for Self-Help Lim­it­ed and the Orop­une Project.

The changes rep­re­sent a broad re­align­ment of re­spon­si­bil­i­ties across Cab­i­net, with sig­nif­i­cant move­ment in hous­ing, state en­ter­pris­es, dis­as­ter man­age­ment, na­tion­al se­cu­ri­ty, agri­cul­ture and so­cial de­vel­op­ment.