Director of Public Information

THE principle and practice of Cabinet adjustments, and indeed shuffles, are healthy for a progressive democracy. Changes in Cabinet, whether in the form of adjustments, as His Excellency has effected, or as major reorganization, speak to an orientation of being adaptive in regard to managing the nation’s affairs.Today’s global construct is dynamic, fast-moving and ever changing. Government and its leaders must constantly take decisive action, after careful review and assessment, to keep apace of the needs of the people and the national priorities. As a conscious practice, governments must seek to avoid being inflexible and resistant to change and adjustments, as these are red flags on a path to unproductivity.

It can be expected that Cabinet review and adjustment would be a constant feature of the Granger Administration. The end of the budget year and the 2016 budget presentation being imminent, this presents an ideal opportunity for review, re-organization and refocusing.

In May 2015, when the Cabinet was appointed, it was done on the basis of the best information available at the time, along with the priorities and policies outlined in the coalition’s manifesto for the May 11th election.

Minister Cathy Hughes was a natural fit for the tourism sector. In addition to her training and work in media and communications, a large portion of her professional life has been dedicated to the advancement of the tourism sector. Now with telecommunications liberalization still a bugbear for the nation, along with the dire need for our Information Communication Technology (ICT) sector to leapfrog and catch up with modern times, it has been recognized that tourism and ICT are at similar stages of development. A technologically impaired nation, such as ours currently is, will have its development and progress hampered and slowed down. ICT needs to become a national front-burner issue.

Both tourism and ICT in the Guyanese context remain in their infancy. Both sectors need dedicated attention at a policy level. Both sectors need a dedicated lead spokesperson to not only champion their causes, but to outline to the nation the need for prioritizing these sectors – in terms of allocation of resources, positioning them for national conversations and to garner public support.

Tourism and ICT may not appear to be sectors which coincide, but in the Guyana context they very much do, on the basis of their development status.

Additionally, the modern tourism industry is also closely linked to the ICT sector. While some niche aspects of tourism cater to tourists who want to disconnect and escape from the modern world, those who are involved in conference tourism, business tourism, remigrant tourism, sports tourism, and even leisure tourism do not wish to be deprived in any significant way from what they are accustomed to in their day-to-day lives. A modern ICT sector is at the heart of this, and will be a driver and an essential component of the tourism sector.

ICT, despite previous efforts, remains an area of lamentable national deficiency. Our internet connectivity rates are poor, our bandwidth options are narrow, our upload speeds are woeful, and we are the most technologically handicapped nation in CARICOM. As outlined by His Excellency David Granger, there is an unavoidable gap which needed to be addressed; and of the available resources within Cabinet, Minister Hughes is best suited to provide leadership while retaining her tourism portfolio.

Had Minister Simona Broomes been appointed to the Natural Resources sector in May, such appointment would have raised no eyebrows whatsoever. Indeed, as was the case with Minister Hughes, it would have, in all likelihood, been seen as a natural fit. As it was, Minister Broomes was appointed as Minister within the Ministry of Social Protection, and approached her portfolio with a vigour and robustness which have become her trademarks. In a short period of time, she caused the national spotlight to be focused on labour infractions and welfare matters, and made gains in bringing redress.

Minister Broomes’s forte is the fight against trafficking in persons (TIP) and human rights violations in our hinterland, particularly in the mining sector. It is from where she emerged, leading the courageous and intrepid Guyana Women Miners Association. It is for her work in this sector that she was honoured by United States Secretary of State John Kerry.

Since Minister Broomes’s focus was shifted away from the hinterland to the coastland, there has been a breach in the work which she approached with fearlessness and zeal, and there has been a bubbling restlessness in the hinterland especially, where she is missed. In fact, with the advent of Broomes’s activism, many hinterland operators, including miners and business owners, have taken corrective action in regularizing their operations; but with her having been focusing on mostly coastland labour issues since May, many of these offenders have relapsed into their old abusive ways.

There is therefore a need for Guyana’s internationally acknowledged champion of the fight against TIP and hinterland human rights and labour abuses to effectively return home and bring the situation under control. Her widely known expertise is needed, formally and as a matter of urgency within the Natural Resources Ministry, newly established as it is, and headed by Minister Raphael Trotman.

Newly appointed Minister within the Ministry of Communities, Valerie Sharpe-Patterson, is expected to bring dynamism to the housing sector, a portfolio which is diverse and which requires unrelenting attention. Housing is also a sector which has been mired in a litany of inefficiencies and administrative complications which have left tens of thousands of house lot applicants frustrated and disillusioned. Housing is a portfolio which requires creative solutions and a people-oriented approach, which Mrs. Sharpe-Patterson is charged to deliver.

Minister Keith Scott shifts over from the Ministry of Communities to the Ministry of Social Protection, working under substantive Minister Volda Lawrence, to continue the work started by Minister Broomes with a view to regularizing the labour practices which have been left to meander for too long prior to Minister Broomes having taken control. Minister Scott’s no-nonsense approach should put on notice those who are afoul of the law with regard to labour practices that, rather than breathing a sigh of relief, they ought to bring their operations within the framework of the law, or expect that they would be confronted and exposed.

The Cabinet adjustments are a testimony to the coalition government’s commitment to delivering efficient services; to best utilize available resources; and most especially, to engendering a culture of openness and accountability within a progressive democratic framework.

Change is not always embraced, nor does it always find universal favour; but change is a progressive tool and one which helps to ensure that performance, not complacency, remains a top priority.

Imran Khan is the Director of Public Information and Press Secretary to Prime Minister Moses V. Nagamootoo. Responses: imran.khan@opm.gov.gy

By Imran Khan