Local Government Minister Chandresh Sharma is expressing a desire to make Calypso Monarch Karene Asche an ambassador for his ministry. He suggested that as an ambassador for the ministry she would tour corporations to promote ministry programmes. Asche, an employee of the Port-of-Spain City Corporation, won the 2011 Calypso Monarch contest on Sunday. She was congratulated and presented with flowers by the minister following the distribution of letters of appointments to two state boards yesterday at Kent House, Maraval. The boards appointed were the Solid Waste Management Company Limited(SWMCOL) and the East Port-of-Spain Development Company Limited.
In his address to the newly appointed board members, Sharma expressed the need for state appointed boards to be totally independent. He went on to describe their responsibility as needing to be profitable while they added value to T&T. While distributing letters of appointment to both boards Sharma advised members to exercise their duties without fear or favour. He reminded them that their chief responsibility would be the delivery of goods and services for the sole purpose of enhancing people's lives. "The greatest service is to be of service," said Sharma. Newly appointed chairman of the East Port-of-Spain Development Company Board, Steve Kristow, said he was ready to begin his duties, reiterating earlier statements by Sharma that any decision made by the board would be a collective one.
Other members of the East Port-of-Spain board included Deputy Chairman, Gregory Hill and directors Helen Shirsingh, Malcolm Kernahan, Lemuel Murphy, Christon Johnson Williams, Jainarine Lalla, Heston Blake, Alvin Ramlogan, Anthony Skeete, Raejendra Arjoon and Paul Solomon. Animal rights activist and environmentalist Nalini Dial who was newly appointed to the SWMCOL board expressed her pleasure at being appointed to the SWMCOL board specifically. She was supported by chairman of the SWMCOL board Suruj Baboolal who stated that the various garbage dumps in the country needed to be reviewed to ensure a more people friendly and safe environment. Responding to questions on the ability of state boards to work cohesively, Baboolal gave assurances on his ability to listen to others and stressed his commitment to working with his fellow board members to serve the country. Other board members appointed to SWMCOL are Deputy Chairman Kavir Ramjattan, Josh Peters, Shiva Hardit-Singh, Carol Mapp, Nigel Chaves, Allison Pajotte, Ravi Ramsingh, Neil Balgobin and Ricky Ramkissoon.