President confirms “necessary” cabinet “adjustments” to ensure better public service delivery

Dr. George Norton will now move from the Ministry of Public Health to the smaller Ministry of Social Cohesion, while Amna Ally will move from Social Cohesion to Social Protection and Volda Lawrence will take charge of the Ministry of Public Health. She previously served as Minister of Social Protection.

President confirms “necessary” cabinet “adjustments” to ensure better public service delivery

President David Granger on Tuesday afternoon confirmed that he has taken a decision to shift three of his cabinet ministers to new ministries.

Dr. George Norton will now move from the Ministry of Public Health to the smaller Ministry of Social Cohesion, while Amna Ally will move from Social Cohesion to Social Protection and Volda Lawrence will take charge of the Ministry of Public Health. She previously served as Minister of Social Protection.

In a video statement released by the Ministry of the Presidency, President Granger said he found it necessary to make the adjustments to ensure the public service that is provided by the cabinet is of a high standard.

With regards to move to reassign Dr. Norton to Social Cohesion, the President said he believed that some of the controversy that surrounded Norton’s service as the Minister of Health, took away from the work of the Ministry.

Norton found himself at the centre of controversy over the rental of a drug bond from a businessman who is a member of the People’s National Congress. Norton was forced to apologise to the National Assembly and the Nation over misleading statements he provided in the National Assembly about the bond rental.

He found himself in more controversy recently when during the budget debates, an impromptu visit to the same drug bond revealed that there were still no drugs being stored at the facility, although it attracts a hefty rental bill.

Mr. Granger said he believes that Norton will fit well in the area of Social Cohesion, especially with his knowledge of the Hinterland region and the need for the gap with the Hinterland to be closed.

Replacing Norton at the Ministry of Public Health with be Volda Lawrence, who headed the Social Protection Ministry.  The President said he believes that Ms. Lawrence’s management experience will do well for the Public Health Ministry.

“Former Minister of Social Protection, Ms. Volda Lawrence, has brought certain managerial skills to the Ministry of Public Health.  Largely, its a management problem in terms of material and human resources and the delivery of services to the various regions of Guyana, and I believe she will ideally be suited for that Ministry”, he said.

The President expressed confidence with the move and thanked the Ministers for taking up the challenge in their new roles.

He added that all three Ministers are very experienced Members of the National Assembly, and he hopes that the people of Guyana will understand that the move is a positive and not negative one. He said he believes that the delivery of public service will improve as a result of the move.

The President’s decision came just three months after he indicated that he had no plans to reshuffle members of the Cabinet. In January 2016, he also reshuffled his cabinet by moving Simona Broomes as Minister within the Ministry of Social Protection to Minister within the Ministry of Natural Resources.

Raphael Trotman was moved to head the Ministry of Natural Resources from his previous job as Minister of Governance.

Keith Scott was also moved from serving as  Minister within the Ministry of Communities. He became the Minister within the Ministry of Social Protection. Valerie Patterson was bumped up from being just a Member of Parliament to serving as the head of the Housing Department as the Minister within the Ministry of Communities.

Then later in 2016, Minister Cathy Hughes was shuffled across to the Ministry of Public Telecommunications from the Ministry of Tourism.

There are reports that the Government is also expected to shuffle around a number of Permanent Secretaries.

 

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