Unfazed by Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar's decision to split his ministerial portfolio, Works Minister Jack Warner has vowed to work even harder and retain his title as the most popular minister.
Speaking with reporters at La Brea yesterday, Warner said he was not sure what responsibilities were now under his purview and that of new Transport Minister Devant Maharaj. "We don't have an idea yet what the schedule is," he said. Warner said he was uncertain about the Prime Minister's logic for the split but he did not think it had anything to do with the FIFA controversy which led to his resignation from FIFA. Warner said: "I am sure the Prime Minister is the best judge of what she does for the country and I have to abide by whatever I am asked to do. I will do it to the best of my ability. "Based on the collective effort of all of us you will see us performing as never before."
Agreeing with Opposition MP Colm Imbert that ideally Works and Transport needed to be together, he recalled the split in the portfolio was done under the Basdeo Panday-led government but it did not work.
"At the end of the day if it doesn't work, as it did not in the past, then we will have to review it. I am ever the optimist," he said. Warner did not foresee any difficulty in working with Maharaj whom he had worked with previously at the Public Transport Service Corporation (PTSC) and the ministry. Asked about a recent poll that put him as the most popular minister, he said: "I win the poll and I will win the poll again and again, anytime." When asked to comment on the Caribbean Airlines Ltd board, he said that was now a matter for Maharaj but he confirmed the appointments of two board members were revoked.
Warner spoke with reporters after touring the ministry's Highway Division sub-offices at Cedros and La Brea. He viewed coastal erosion at St Andrew's Estate in Icacos and at Chin Kit Street, Cap-de-Ville, and the Icacos river which is to be cleaned. The minister said he was uncertain about the extent of work he could do now but highways director Roger Ganesh he said, suggested setting up a coastal authority which he (Warner) would be exploring. Describing the dilapidated sub-offices as scandalous, Warner promised to address the situation urgently. He promised temporary relocation until proper buildings could be constructed. "I saw a toilet bowl for women which was patched up three or four times. That is unbelievable for a country like this," he added.