TOURISM Minister Cathy Hughes has been tipped to head the new Communications Ministry, which will oversee the telecommunications sector, sources close to the administration confirmed on Wednesday. Hughes will serve as subject minister for both ministries, the Guyana Chronicle understands.President David Granger on Wednesday said that while cabinet will not be reshuffled, two ministries will be renamed. “There is not going to be a reshuffle…two ministries are to be renamed. We now have 16 ministries and we will remain with 16 ministries but two ministries will be renamed.”

Asked to disclose the identities of persons to take charge of the renamed ministries, President Granger opted to inform his “colleagues” first. He explained that members of government would be informed before close of business on Wednesday. The Public Telecommunications and Natural Resources Ministries will be renamed, the President told reporters, following the swearing in of two new commissioners of the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) at the Ministry of the Presidency.

President Granger noted that while there would be no “structural adjustments,” his government believes that changing the names of the two ministries “would emphasise the thrust the government would be taking in those two major areas, information technology, largely and natural resources.”

Meanwhile, Minister of Governance Raphael Trotman will continue to head the Ministry of Natural Resources, his substantive post. Sources close to government have disclosed that a junior minister will be transferred to the Natural Resources Ministry as a minister within that ministry.

Focus for 2016

Meanwhile, President Granger told the media that there are several areas that will inform government’s policy next year. First, is strengthening national unity. He explained that the focus of Guyana’s 50th Independence celebrations will be on strengthening the country’s national unity. “I would like to say with regret, Guyana was born a broken nation in 1966 … we were born under a state of emergency… the country was divided. I’d like to feel that the 50th anniversary would be an opportunity for us to come together again and strengthen national unity. That is the most important thing for me,” he said.

Also on the cards is developing the country’s national security. According to the President, during the first decade of the millennium, there were several threats to the country’s security. “As you know what happened during the troubles, at which time a lot of policemen were killed, citizens were killed, and many of those deaths are still to be investigated. We are still seeing the aftershocks and we will be paying attention to security next year. We have also had challenges to our territorial waters,” the President said.

Thirdly, President Granger said developing national infrastructure is critical to the development of the economy. “The third major area is national infrastructure. This country cannot develop economically unless we get infrastructure right… the road to Lethem… bridges and aerodromes in the hinterland to enable development and a faster transfer of goods and services all will come in for attention next year,” he added.

Additionally, Minister of Finance Winston Jordan in an invited comment on the 2016 budgetary allocations, disclosed that money will be allocated to strengthen the reach of the National

Communications Network (NCN). “In terms of communication, we are trying to strengthen NCN, of course, so that their signals can be reached to the far reaches of Guyana and also improve radio and printing communication,” Jordan told the Guyana Chronicle.

By Ariana Gordon