The best person suited for the Finance Ministry at this challenging time is new Finance Minister Colm Imbert, Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley has declared.
Imbert was among the 20 members of the new Rowley Cabinet who took the oath of office at Queen’s Hall, Port-of- Spain, yesterday. (See full Cabinet listing on Page A5)
Following the swearing in of his Cabinet, Rowley explained the appointment of Imbert, for whom the portfolio will be a new experience following previous posts in Health, Works, and Science and Tertiary Education.
Rowley said, “The Ministry of Finance is the most challenging area right now and will remain so for quite some time. What I’ve done is put the most experienced minister who has a very high capacity for detailed work, he’s very technically sound and Mr Imbert is the best person...best suited for that position.”
To those who may say Imbert lacks economic training, Rowley told reporters after the ceremony, “It’s economics that got us where we are now. It is those who call themselves economists in the political areas that got us where we are now, so maybe somebody else might get us out of it.”
Addressing the new team and guests during the function, Rowley said, “As Prime Minister I intend to hold every one of the members to the oath of office which demands that you act without fear or favour, affection or ill-will.
“It is my style of management to give responsibility and hold people accountable. Ministers will be held accountable but the buck stops with the Prime Minister—I take responsibility for this Cabinet.”
Rowley also said there was enough to sustain everyone in T&T, just “maybe not lavishly.” He, however, urged a change in attitude from asking for “more please.”
He added, “We will try to share with everyone what is on the table.”
The 21-member team—including Rowley—features six people who served in People’s National Movement (PNM) governments before, as well as 14 “newbies.” It includes eight women and five senator ministers.
The first member of the Cabinet to be sworn in yesterday was Clarence Rambharat, the PNM’s Mayaro candidate who lost to the People’s Partnership’s Rushton Paray in Monday’s general election. During the election campaign Rowley had promised Rambharath would be in Agriculture if the PNM formed the Government. Rambharath was one of five senator ministers named.
In addition to the cabinet team, Rowley appointed defeated Caroni Central candidate Avinash Singh as a Parliamentary Secretary in the Agriculture, Lands and Fisheries Ministry.
Tobago East MP Ayanna Webster-Roy was also appointed a Minister of State in the Office of the Prime Minister, but was a late addition to the slate.
Saying mistakes were sometimes made, Rowley said he took full responsibility for forgetting to bring one document for the swearing-in of Webster-Roy. He joked, however, that she was Tobagonian like himself and would be able to take it. She was later administered the oath of office at President’s House.
Marlene flubs
Housing Minister Marlene Mc Donald caused some amused gasps when she flubbed her lines while taking the oath of office yesterday, saying she swore to work “...without fear or favour, affection or... goodwill.”
The line of the oath actually reads, “without fear or favour, affection or ill-will.”
When she realised the mistake, Mc Donald re-read the line saying “...without fear or favour, affection or ill-will.”
Ministries absorbed in new dispensation
Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley yesterday told reporters he had put in place a Cabinet the size of which he felt was required to run T&T and a number of ministries had been absorbed.
He said the Water Resources aspect of that previous ministry was in the Public Utilities Ministry, Environment is now in Planning, Justice and Legal Affairs in the Attorney General’s Ministry and the Arts portfolio was in Culture
He also noted that Tobago Development was in the Office of the PM and the Lands division had been returned to the Agriculture Ministry.
“So there’s some compression. But the public service is still intact—what we’ve removed are the ministers and bureaucracy,” he said.
On the new ministers, Rowley told the gathering he hoped the public had observed a changing of the guard, in that there was a time when holding office meant one had to be senior in age with long, meritorious service, “(but) you’d see a lot of youths, we’ve put affairs in the hands of a lot of young people.”
Along with them, he added, were other people who had the experience to provide guidance.
“But we all have to serve all of the people of T&T,” Rowley added.
But he assured, “Today I want to say to T&T, don’t worry, everything’s going to be all right.”
Rowley also called for T&T to become the model country the Mighty Sparrow sang about and urged people against expecting a pay cheque for every deed.
“I appeal to the national community to return to the service of volunteerism to volunteer for T&T...to do something without accepting a financial reward. Not everything has a pay cheque. Let us get rid of the ‘gimme, gimme’ attitude. Let’s be confident what we have done in the dark can be defended in the light,” he said.
The new Cabinet meets in retreat today at the Hyatt Regency, Port-of-Spain, and will hold its first cabinet meeting on Monday.
“We of the Cabinet will go on with boundless faith in our destiny,” he told the gathering.