Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley today made several changes to her Cabinet, saying they were necessary to better prepare Government to meet the challenges ahead.
In an address to the nation from Ilaro Court, Ms. Mottley announced the inclusion of two new Ministers in the Cabinet – Senator Lisa Cummins and Ian Gooding-Edghill; changes to some ministerial portfolios; and the names of five persons who would no longer serve in the Cabinet.
The Prime Minister said: “I have today, Wednesday, July 22nd, met with Her Excellency, the Governor General Dame Sandra Mason, and have advised her Excellency to effect some changes, as would allow for the following new look Cabinet of Ministers of Barbados.
“We must position this country in order to be able to transform itself and to become world-class. It is against this background that we are making the changes to the structure of Government so as to better prepare us to meet the challenges ahead.”
The full list of ministers and their portfolios are as follows:
- Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley – Minister of Finance, Economic Affairs and Investment
- Dale Marshall – Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, with responsibility for the Police
- Santia Bradshaw – Minister of Education, Technological and Vocational Training
- Senator Dr. Jerome Walcott – Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade
- Lt. Col. Jeffrey Bostic – Minister of Health and Wellness
- Dr. William Duguid – Minister of Housing, Lands and Maintenance
- Ronald Toppin – Minister of Industry and International Business
- Kerrie Symmonds – Minister of Energy, Small Business and Entrepreneurship
- Cynthia Forde – Minister of People Empowerment and Elder Affairs
- Senator Lisa Cummins – Minister of Tourism and International Transport
- Ian Gooding-Edghill – Minister of Transport, Works and Water Resources
- Adrian Forde – Minister of the Environment and National Beautification
- Wilfred Abrahams – Minister of Home Affairs, Information and Public Affairs
- Ryan Straughn – Minister in the Ministry of Finance
- Marsha Caddle – Minister in the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Investment
- Sandra Husbands – Minister in the Ministry of Foreign Trade
- Colin Jordan – Minister of Labour and Social Partnership Relations
- Charles Griffith – Minister in the Ministry of Water Resources
- Dwight Sutherland – Minister of Youth, Sports and Community Empowerment
- Kirk Humphrey – Minister of Maritime Affairs and the Blue Economy
- Indar Weir – Minister of Agriculture and Food Security
- Peter Phillips – Minister in the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security
- John King – Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office with responsibility for Culture and Rural Development Commission and eventually the National Development Commission
- Senator Dr. Romel Springer – Parliamentary Secretary, Ministry of Education, Technological and Vocational Training
- Senator Kay McConney – Minister of Innovation, Science and Smart Technology
Ms. Mottley thanked George Payne, Edmund Hinkson, Trevor Prescod, Neil Rowe, and Senator Lucille Moe for their contributions over the past two years.
“This is not a case of dismissing anyone. I want to make it clear that I am committed to ensuring that each former member of the Cabinet is utilised in the furtherance of the work of this Government and of this nation. They are all capable individuals who have much to offer Barbados and I will be leaning on them, with their permission, in some form or fashion, to assist with the execution of our mandate to be effective as a Government ….
“The Government has determined that it is necessary that we take fresh guard. The Parliament of Barbados will be prorogued on the 8th of August, 2020, with us resuming in a new session on the 15th of September with a new Throne Speech and with a new direction as to where we must go in order to meet these extraordinarily different circumstances from the original Throne Speech of two years ago,” she stressed.
The Prime Minister congratulated the new Ministers, saying they had distinguished themselves as competent, hard workers, with a capacity and resolve to get the job done.
She added that she was impressed with their stewardships as Chairman of the National Insurance Scheme and the Transport Board, in the case of Mr. Gooding-Edghill, and Senator Cummins with the Barbados Port Inc.
“I look forward to the same ingenuity, tenacity and penchant for hard work and success with respect to all who are being reappointed,” she stated.