Dawn Hastings removed from Ministry of Communities

By Bibi Khatoon

Dawn Hastings-Williams, Minister within the Ministry of Communities will be taking up the position of Minister of Public Affairs within the Ministry of the Presidency.

This decision was taken by President David Granger and disclosed to the media during an engagement today at State House.

He noted that Hastings will be taking up her new position at the end of this month.

“Minister Hastings coming into the Ministry of the Presidency is a continuation of that process of rebalancing,” the President said, noting that, “it is a question of my own judgement. I continuously have to evaluate the workload of every Ministry…there is a continuous process of ensuring that the Government works well.”

Regarding her roles and responsibilities, the President told media operatives that, “she is there to assist me in the responsibilities that I have in the Ministry of the Presidency and I’m sure she’ll do well.”

Minister Hastings-Williams, who has responsibility for the water sector in the Ministry of Communities, has had little prevalence in the media since her assumption of office.

Hastings-Williams will be joining a list of other Ministers who were re-assigned from their posts over the past two years.

On June 13, 2017, Minister Dr. Rupert Roopnaraine was re-assigned from his post of Minister of Education to the Ministry of the Presidency as Public Service Minister. As a result, Minister Nicolette Henry took up the post as Education Minister.

In 2016, the President had also removed Minister Catherine Hughes from the Ministry of Tourism to Public Telecommunications. Also, Raphael Trotman was appointed as Minister of Natural Resources from the Ministry of Governance and that portfolio was given to Prime Minister, Moses Nagamootoo. Minister Simona Broomes was also shifted from the Ministry of Social Protection to the Ministry of Natural Resources, while Minister Keith Scott was moved to the Ministry of Social Protection from the Ministry of Communities and was tasked with responsibility for Labour.

Minister Valerie Sharpe-Patterson was then given the nod for the post of Minister within the Ministry of Communities with responsibility for Housing.

In January of this year, President Granger made some additional changes to his Cabinet, re-assigning Minister Volda Lawrence from the Ministry of Social Protection to head the Ministry of Public Health while Minister Amna Ally was moved from the Ministry of Social Cohesion to the Ministry of Social Protection.  Former Minister of Public Health, Dr. George Norton was moved then from the Ministry of Public Health to the Ministry of Social Cohesion, which falls under the purview of the Ministry of the Presidency.