More ministerial changes are coming to help boost delivery in ministries such as the Ministry of Finance, Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar disclosed yesterday. She was speaking with reporters as hundreds of UNC members turned out at Rienzi Complex, Couva, to elect executives for the UNC's Women's Arm and the Youth Arm. Asked about the reshuffling of Cabinet, Persad-Bissessar said: "I don't see it as a reshuffle at all...I see this as a redeployment of competencies.
"There are a few more such moves to take place amongst ministers without portfolios in terms of aligning competencies as we see fit to take us forward in the delivery of services...We expect to see a few more of those," she said. "For example, in (the Ministry of) Finance we expect to give assistance to the Minister of Finance because there is only one minister there." The Prime Minister disclosed that one or two non-portfolio ministers might be going to work at the Finance Ministry. "Minister Dookeran said he will not mind getting two of them...We expect to have this sorted out soon," she said.
Asked which minister was expected to be transferred, Persad-Bissessar said she had not yet decided.
"This is something I am addressing in my mind, but I have made no final decision," she said. Dispelling rumours of massive changes in her Cabinet, Persad-Bissessar reiterated that none of her senior ministers are expected to be redeployed. She added, however, that attempts would be made to strengthen key delivery ministries. The changes come amidst criticism of the Government's perceived mismanagement of the Clico issue and labour problems.
Last week, Minister Rudy Indarsingh was transferred out of the Works Ministry to the Ministry of Labour.
Meanwhile, there was a poor turnout of voters. Out of a membership of 29,000 voters from the Women's Arm, only 700 had turned up to vote by 3.30 pm, while only 100 had voted out of a population of 4,000 in the Youth Arm, an inside source said. Several women were seen distributing flyers outside Rienzi Complex around 2 pm, as voting took place upstairs. Many supporters said they were anxiously awaiting the arrival of the Prime Minister, as well as the cultural show which was scheduled for late evening.
Around 3.50 pm, Persad-Bissessar arrived to the beat of tassa drums, wearing her UNC colours. She cast her ballot secretly and then greeted supporters. Asked to comment on the low voter turnout, Persad-Bissessar said: "A member can come out to vote as he or she sees fit, but the turnout outside is tremendous. "I don't know the numbers yet, but people have been voting from very early," she said.
"We have a crowd of several thousands and voting continues so we expect that it will increase...We'll see how it goes at the end of the voting."
During her address after the election of officers, Persad-Bissessar dispelled criticism that her Government was not performing. "The Opposition is spreading propaganda that my Government had not delivered, so I want to deal with this and show much we have delivered," she said. Apart from establishing the Children's Life Fund and "saving the lives of many children," Persad-Bissessar said the minimum wage was increased from $9 to $12.50. She said old age pension was also increased to $3,000 and more than 52, 790 senior citizens benefited from this since September 2010.
Caroni lands were also distributed to more than 6,000 former workers and hundreds benefited from flood compensation, the Prime Minister added. She also said that work had started on the Navet Trunk Main to improve water supply. She noted that thousands of SEA pupils received laptops, adding that the new batch of laptops to be brought in for SEA students would be in the national colours of red white and black.
The Prime Minister boasted that the GATE programme had been expanded to include 35,327 applicants, while 1,522 students were given loans under the Higher Education Loans Programme at a cost of $32.4 million.
She also said 84 long-standing house applications were issued and 6,500 new housing units were scheduled to be constructed soon. A range of grants for poor people were also increased and the Disaster Housing assistance grants were increased from $10,000 to $20,000. She also outlined a series of legislation passed by the Government to reduce crime, saying that it was inaccurate to say that her Government was not working. Also speaking at the installation of new officers were general secretary Dr Glenn Ramadharsingh and presiding officer Joe Sirju who announced the election results.
New officers
Women's arm Chairman- Khadijah Ameen
Vice-chairman- Stacy Roopnarine
Welfare Officer- Cyrilla Cooper
Secretary- Melissa Ragoonanan
Public Relations Officer-Hyacinth Rampersadsingh
Assistant Secretary- Judy Dinbar
Youth arm
Chairman- Nicholas Morris
Vice-chairman- Thelston Jagoo
Secretary- Naseen Rahman
Assistant secretary-Kerrie Roberts
Public Relations Officer-Devindra Heeraman
Welfare Office- Glen Ramjeewan