Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley has promised there will be no job cuts despite his smaller Cabinet.
Speaking to the media at the first People’s National Movement (PNM) meeting since its triumph at the polls last Monday, Rowley dismissed rumours that his contracted Government meant that staff at some ministries would be jobless. The Cabinet held a retreat at the Hyatt, Port-of-Spain, yesterday.
During the ministerial swearing-in ceremony on Friday, it was revealed that Rowley had delineated his Government among 23 ministries as opposed to the People’s Partnership which ended its tenure with 33 ministries.
“The ministries which have not been named as separate entities, that block of officers, public servants, whatever they are, they now fall under one of the existing ministries,” he said.
Rowley said that in his new template, several permanent secretaries would now liaise with a single minister as opposed to the previous model which saw one PS per minister.
“For example, there was a minister of water resources. That whole block of whoever, whatever was there is now under the Minister of Public Utilities and there is a Minister of Public Utilities,” he said.
He said the same concept also applied for other ministries.
“So every single area of governmental activity sits within a ministry somewhere and there is a minister responsible,” he said.
He described the shift as a mere “relocation” of manpower.
“So this rumour of job losses is just not true,” he said, adding that the ministerial chop just meant that there were ten fewer administrative heads.
During the three-month campaign, Rowley had reiterated a plan to devolve the Local Government Ministry and the work under that ministry to the regional corporations.
In addressing that issue yesterday, Rowley said it would be done on a phased basis.
“That commitment still stands but it will be phased. We set out to do that but we have to create the architecture of the new arrangement before we replace what is there now,” he said.
Local Government is currently linked to Rural Development under party chairman Franklin Khan.
He said that the planned absorption would not take place just yet and the new template had to be worked out before Local Government could be completely devolved.
“This is a work in progress. The process has begun,” Rowley said.