With the possibility of elections looming, President David Granger has nonetheless hinted at more changes within his various ministries.
He was at the time answering questions from the media on the sidelines of an event at the Ministry of the Presidency yesterday.
“Other changes have to be made at the level of Permanent Secretaries and by the end of this month and the beginning of June, there should be some announcements,” President Granger posited.
Already, President Granger has made some drastic changes within his Cabinet, following the resignation of four ministers.
While those former ministers have since been retained at various capacities in the government, there was some reshuffling of the Cabinet to fill the ministerial posts.
In fact, the changes saw the creation of new positions, department and ministries to accommodate party members.
Former Foreign Affairs Minister, Carl Greenidge was reappointed as Foreign Secretary at the Foreign Affairs Ministry with responsibility for the Department of Frontiers and Territorial Integrity and the Department of Trade and Economic Cooperation.
The position of Foreign Affairs Minister was taken up by Dr Karen Cummings, who previously served as junior Public Health Minister.
The position of Director General of the Ministry of the Presidency was created for Joseph Harmon, who previously served as Minister of State. The new Minister of State is now Dawn Hastings-Williams, who previously served as Minister of Public Affairs.
Former Minister of Business Dominic Gaskin was replaced by MP Haimraj Rajkumar. The position of Director of Manufacturing and Marketing within the Business Ministry with responsibility for the enforcement of standards, providing assistance to small producers and access to markets, particularly Eastern Caribbean markets, was created for Gaskin.
Former Minister of Public Service, Dr Rupert Roopnaraine was replaced by Tabitha Sarabo-Halley while Dr Roopnaraine was appointed as Director of Public Service Training within the Ministry of the Presidency with responsibility for training standards at the Bertram Collins College of the Public Service, the Guyana Defence Force Staff College and the Guyana Police Force Staff College – a position which did not previously exist.
In addition to those four ministers who resigned, there were some other reshuffling. Valerie Patterson-Yearwood, the then Minister of Communities with responsibility for housing, was replaced by Annette Ferguson, who was serving as junior Minister of Public Infrastructure.
A new position called Minister of Agriculture with responsibility for Rural Affairs was created for Patterson-Yearwood.
President Granger has since confirmed that she was stripped of her housing responsibilities after it was revealed that her husband, Godfrey Yearwood, benefited from multi-million dollar contracts from the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA).
