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Prime Minister Mia Mottley Changes Cabinet

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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 – Prime Minister Mottley

Two years into assuming the government of Barbados Prime Minister Mottley tweaked her Cabinet by making changes to her team. The standout changes – Lisa Cummins  and Ian Gooding-Edghill take over at Tourism and Transport respectively. Removed from the Cabinet are George Payne, Trevor Prescod, Lucille Moe, Neil Rowe and Edmund Hinkson.

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Here is the new Cabinet:

    • 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

 

Related Link:

GIS Release – Prime Minister Makes Changes To Cabinet

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154 responses to “Prime Minister Mia Mottley Changes Cabinet”

  1. Greene Avatar
    Greene

    so let me go down the rabbit hole with you.

    what is our system based on then? if it is not based on the WM what do we call ours then? how do judge its flaws? are there any flaws if there is nothing to juxtapose it against? where did we get the system? if our system is not based on the WM, what system is relevant to Bim?

  2. Hal Austin Avatar
    Hal Austin

    @ Greene

    Like most things, we are discussing the same topics round and round in circles. The last time we discussed this @Jeff Cumberbatch gave a definition, the exact words of which fail me, but something along the lines of a hybrid Westminster model; he also added in something about a Republican monarchy. I am sure they teach that at Cave Hill.
    Our leaders claim they operate a Westminster model; if that is the case, then they should be held to account based on that model. I have said on numerous occasions they do not understand, nor operate, the Westminster model. In fact, many of our Westminster members of parliament themselves do not fully understand the system.
    This is what Ezra Alleyne wrote above: “To fully understand the exquisite nature of this particular exercise of power, one must first recognise that the star of the Westminster system of government is the prime minister”. (Quote).
    In Barbados we have two different systems: our Senate, the Upper House, does not have the powers of the House of Lords; our Select Committees are not as powerful as the UK’s; The UK House of Commons has the power to subpoena witnesses and if they refuse to attend, or to give fully cooperate, then they can be held in contempt; the passing of Bills is different; the committee stages are different; and even how Bills reach parliament is different.
    I deliberately call our system presidential because that is what it functionally is, whatever the constitution says. My discussion of what Ezra Alleyne wrote was based his claims to constitutionality; the application in Barbados is not constitutional, but political.
    I am not discussing the politics of government in Barbados. That is for another time.

  3. Sargeant Avatar
    Sargeant

    @David
    Thanks for the Caswell column, BTW what happened to the BLP stalwart GC Brathwaite?

  4. TheOGazerts Avatar
    TheOGazerts

    You all want to debate ‘lofty issues’ and leave the little bolts that can be tightened unattended. When the wheels fall off then you act surprise…

    https://barbadostoday.bb/2020/04/11/upp-expresses-concerns-over-covid-19-charity/
    How much money has that charity collected?
    How much was donated to citizens or the the government?
    What are the administrated costs?

  5. TheOgazerts Avatar
    TheOgazerts

    :-)This is meant in half jest.
    Commander: Theo Gazerts
    Ship: Titanic
    Promotion: For rearranging deck chairs
    🙂

  6. David Avatar
    David

    @Sargeant

    He has not offered an explanation. His appearances are infrequent on Facebook. Perhaps his job of political consulting is too demanding.

  7. David Avatar
    David

    If you can try to have a read of Introduction to Caribbean Politics by Gilkes-Barrow.

  8. Greene Avatar
    Greene

    i was just sitting on the loo and a thought crossed my mind- i wonder under what political system could a PM issue written invitations to known drug dealers to her first opening of parliament as PM?

  9. David Avatar
    David

    How will the Opposition respond two years into the BLP’s term, enough to capture the imagination of an inquiring public?

  10. David Avatar
    David

    Looks like Trevor Prescod has the support of activist David Denny!

    Denny supporting Prescod ‘whatever he decides’

    IF FORMER Minister of Environment and National Beautification Trevor Prescod is planning to take action after being ousted from Cabinet, his Pan-Africanist colleague David Denny says he will have his full support.
    Yesterday, during the non-state actors event to commemorate the Day of National Significance at Independence Square, The City, Denny said he was moved when Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley announced Prescod’s removal last Wednesday, and he was willing to support the MP for St Michael East whatever he decided.
    “In my heart I cannot come here and don’t say anything; I must say it,” he said in his address. “Brothers and sisters I will be standing by my brother Trevor Prescod and whatever Trevor does I will assist.
    “I am a hurt man today; I am hurt to seewhat has happened to my brother.”
    The audience applauded during his remarks.
    Denny, president of the Caribbean Movement for Peace and Integration (CMPI), told the DAILY NATION

    he did not know if Prescod was going tomake a move, adding he had high respect for him, especially after his public stance in the worldwide Black Lives Matterprotests.
    Prescod wore a black T-shirt with the words ‘Black Lives Matter’ when he was entering Parliament recently, and also took part in a June 13 march in The City.
    Prescod is a founding member and former president of the CMPI.(
    SB)
    Source: Nation Newspaper

  11. Hal Austin Avatar
    Hal Austin

    Bravo David. The dismissal of Trevor Prescod is more than just a ‘whim’, there is an ideological difference and all right thinking people must align themselves behind Mr Prescod.
    We must also call out those who profess to be radical within or on the fringes of this government and who have chosen to remain silent while Mr Prescod is sacrificed on the altar of political convenience. This is a moment of truth.
    The onus is now on the president to tell the nation what Mr Prescod has done so awfully that he had to be sacked.

  12. Greene Avatar
    Greene

    @Hal,

    is Denny a contemporary? was he at school with you? if i have the right person i believe he gave a lecture to my 6th form and i dont know prior to that time i had ever heard a more radical speaker. certainly open my eyes and i dare say a lot of the girls and guys to a different world view.

  13. Hal Austin Avatar
    Hal Austin

    No. He was not a contemporary of mine, but he is radical and his heart and head are in the right place.

  14. David Avatar
    David

    He is a David Commisiong partner from Clement Payne Movement.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clement_Payne_Movement

  15. William Skinner Avatar
    William Skinner

    @ Greene
    Comrade Denny has been in the trenches for ages.

  16. William Skinner Avatar
    William Skinner

    @ Hal
    We still wait on Comrade Prescod to speak. Until he speaks no clear strategy to counter the dismissal can be formulated. Did he jump or was he pushed ? We can’t ask the PM why she did something without asking the Comrade to be just as forthcoming. If he never speaks we simply cannot just respond.

  17. Hal Austin Avatar
    Hal Austin

    @ William

    I am sure at some appropriate point Trevor Prescod will make a public statement. Until then, we are left to speculate. It is unfortunate that at a time like this the nation remains in the dark. Where are our journalists?

  18. William Skinner Avatar
    William Skinner

    @ Hal
    The Comrade should be man enough to speak. Silence is consent. No journalist can make him act or speak. Simple as that! If he doesn’t mind being fired from the cabinet he owes his constituency to say so , and that level of respect.

  19. Hal Austin Avatar
    Hal Austin

    @ William

    We must allow him the freedom to make his own decision. Whether he speaks out or not has nothing to do with an incompetent government.

  20. David Avatar
    David

    An honour to serve, says Hinkson
    FORMER MINISTER OF HOME AFFAIRS Edmund Hinkson broke his silence in the House of Assembly on Tuesday after being dropped from the Cabinet last week Wednesday.
    Speaking from the back bench. Hinkson expressed gratitude to Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley for giving him an opportunity to serve.
    “This is the first speech I would be making as a Government backbencher, so I would have now served in every capacity as a parliamentarian, starting as an Opposition Member of Parliament, a Government Cabinet minister and now a Government backbencher,” Hinkson, an attorney at law, said, “so in terms of Parliament, I have to be now seen as an elder statesman.”
    He said it was “an honour and privilege” to serve as a minister, adding that he was now in a small but elite group of people.
    “I want to take the opportunity to thank the honourable Prime Minister of Barbados for giving me the honour and the privilege for 26 months to serve the Cabinet of Barbados. There have not been 150 people who has served as Cabinet ministers in this country… So you are still in an exclusive group to serve as a Cabinet minister. There is no right to a Cabinet minister and a Prime Minister who wins all 30 seats has a difficult task.”
    Hinkson vowed continued support for the BLP: “I will, obviously, still have a say in the bills and legislation that comes before this Parliament as a member

    of the parliamentary group.”
    (MB)
    Source: Nation Newspaper

  21. David Avatar
    David

    Reshuffle: A blow to Pan Africanists

    THUS FAR, there has been significant discussion around the decision by the Prime Minister of Barbados, Mia Amor Mottley, to reshuffle her Cabinet, a little over two years since its initial formation. However, the main issue which will be discussed presently, is the Prime Minister’s rationale for removing Trevor Prescod from the Cabinet and its possible meanings and implications. Other issues will await a subsequent article.
    It can be boldly asserted that Prescod’s removal from the Cabinet is a slight and a blow to the constituency broadly associated with a Pan African and black-empowerment agenda. As part of a collective associated with a body of ideas, associated with an agenda which includes, inter alia, republicanism, black economic empowerment, black racial and cultural pride and dignity, the pursuit of links with African states and overtly socialist and social-democratic nations, Trevor Prescod was the only member of the cabinet who could be relied on to speak with clarity and consistency on matters relevant to the advancement of the outlined agenda.
    It is for this reason, that his firing from the Cabinet was the only genuine shock and surprise, coming as it did in a moment when the demands for the reversal of racist historical and contemporary practices are now occupying centre-stage.
    Coming so shortly after Prescod placed his body where his mouth has always been in demanding the removal of the Nelson Statue from Bridgetown, and where he put his more vacillating colleagues in the shade, his firing from the Cabinet can be seen as pouring cold water and putting a brake on his enthusiasm.
    Welcome firing
    The enemies of the project of black empowerment will no doubt welcome his firing. The promise of the Prime Minister to utilise him in other capacities can be of little comfort, since there is nothing that he can do to promote black empowerment outside of Cabinet that we cannot do from within with greater authority.
    Finally, the other significant dimension of Prescod’s removal from the Cabinet, is what it suggests about the Prime Minister’s own sense of comfort of her solidity

    in the chair. It would be recalled that during the darkest days of her climb to the Prime Minister’s chair, when she was deposed as political leader by Owen Arthur, Trevor Prescod was amongst the existing members of the parliamentary group who had stood most firmly by Mottley’s side. Today, with the 30-0 electoral victory, it appears that the currency of trusted loyalists has been devalued. A door has been opened for opportunists to thrive.
    All in all, the removal of Prescod represents a perpetuation of the gradual distancing of the Mottley administration from the Pan Africanist constituency.
    First they came for the Pan African Commission, and we stayed silent. Then they came for Trevor Prescod, and we stayed silent. Who or what will be next?

    Tennyson Joseph is a political scientist at the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus, specialising in regional affairs. Email tjoe2008@live.com.
    Source: Nation Newspaper

  22. Mariposa Avatar
    Mariposa

    What needs a heavy dose of reshuffling is govt persistent and long drawn out policy is spending millions of dollars on COVID testing on vistors from all over the world in haste to save the tourist industry which COVID has wrestled to the ground
    Meanwhile right under govt nose are the many local businesses who are reeling under the effects of COVID while govt does nothing to help them
    Over the years self empowerment has been used as a driving tool by which local businesses can make a difference in a country economic progress
    Now that COVID might have open that door the necessary players in helping to turn the wheels are no where to be found
    What a dam shame
    List of closure in bridgetown presently and ongoing
    What another sad, jolting spectacle, that Buju Variety Shop has joined the list

    Voyager Gift Shop, Lower Broad Street..
    Praxis, Manor Lodge…
    D’s Mega Styles, Swan Street,
    Thani’s Shoe Shop
    IV Play Deli, Fairchild Street,
    Start De Town, Swan Street,
    The Square Restuarant, Swan Street,
    5th Avenue Fashions, Bolton Lane,
    Flam’s Boutique – Middle Street, City,
    Nakunu, DaCosta Mall,
    A and B Music Supplies, Sheration,
    Africa Net, High Street,
    PJ Fashions, Bolton Lane,
    Pandora Plaza, High Street,
    Massy Pharmacy, Cave Shepherd, Broad Street..

    ######miacares

  23. Sargeant Avatar
    Sargeant

    Prescod sure got a lot of people going to bat for him, I wonder where the supporters of the other Ministers who lost their positions are hiding or what the Kerry fans are saying about his demotion

    I know this is a revolutionary idea but could Prescod be incompetent? I don’t think that any Minister in Barbados has ever been dismissed for ineffectiveness but it could be a first although Hinkson got part of his portfolio taken away in the early days of the Mottley administration. I’m not saying that Prescod was poor at his job but the only reason being proffered that his removal was “unfair” is his role as a Pan Africanist.

    There are a few more Ministers that I think should be offered other opportunities but that could happen in the next go around.

    Many hands make light work.

  24. Hal Austin Avatar
    Hal Austin

    What stupidity. Is this the limit of our reasoning as a people? Is it a Barbadian neurological condition or just a BU one? Or is it meant to be funny?

  25. David Avatar
    David

    @Sargeant

    Has Prescod issued a statement on the matter? Did he attend Lower House sitting this week?

  26. Sargeant Avatar
    Sargeant

    @David
    As I said it’s a revolutionary thought, but if one questions Prescod’s removal why not question e.g. Payne’s removal.

  27. Sargeant Avatar
    Sargeant

    @David

    BTW didn’t I hear Mottley say that she has been observing (or words to that effect) the Ministers for the past two years? We criticized Freundel repeatedly for “standing pat”, now there is a PM who is prepared to make moves and some people aren’t happy.

    Lest I be accused of being a Mottley fan I believe my previous posts speak for themselves but PM’s should be able to structure their Cabinets the way that they are comfortable with, the people will speak to the effectiveness of that approach.

  28. David Avatar
    David

    @Sargeant

    We have to speculate her motives for dropping and moving ministers and the parliamentary secretary. This blogmaster is of the view Payne has gotten long in the tooth besides and represent a period Mottley would soon forget. Prescods shelf life has expired. John King is being carried and Sutherland is being given another chance to make a mark in a ministry less demanding. Not sure about Hinkson, his maybe a case of inappropriate conduct.

  29. Crusoe Avatar
    Crusoe

    Mariposa,

    Really. Bridgetown was ailing and shops shutting for a few years now.

    Sheraton and Warrens have killed it.

    That is why there is an effort to turn Bridgetown into a tourist belt. To recreate life from deadzone.

    You must have been sleeping, if you have not seen the long Nd anguished death of Btown.

  30. David Avatar
    David

    Cave Shepherd published is financials today, what a disaster!

  31. Crusoe Avatar
    Crusoe

    Is the much touted “politics of inclusion” any more altruistic than other methods of political approach?

    Is it empowering by inclusion or emasculating?

    To know whether actions will be successful, one should read the tea leaves.

    The tea leaves tell me that one needs to be very careful in ensuring a future for all.

  32. Crusoe Avatar
    Crusoe

    David,

    For sure worrying. Harrisons was part of Cave Shepherd and I confess without exaggeration, that when I passed it mid last year, 2019, being boarded up and closed, I felt tears spring to my eyes.

    I knew that here were the last throes of a dying city. What our forebears walked and we knew was gone, for good.

    Covid has accelerated the inevitable.

    Let us hope that the rebirth is something worthwhile.

  33. Hal Austin Avatar
    Hal Austin

    The City of Bridgetown has been a slum since the emancipation, when former slaves left the plantations and headed for town. The decay of Broad Street did not start yesterday, yet not a single government since 1966 has put in place a policy to rejuvenate the City and its environs.
    It is the major failing of this government, the ten years of Stuart and before that, the 14 years of Arthur.

  34. Mariposa Avatar
    Mariposa

    Crusoe have u ever heard of a place called So. Beach Fla i implore u to read about its death during the 70 ‘s until some one had a vision to breath new life into that area
    The problem with bridgetown who life have been placed into incompetent and vision less govts
    Bridgetown can be restored with a govt that has the vision to merge tourism and small business into an economic hub
    With govt giving a helping hand to create a similar growth market as So.beach. with mostly local business and cultural resources and a definte upgrade of modern style restaurants captured with a historical theme
    However the problem lies with govt who have decided that to rebuild bridgetown would involve creating economic space for the small business man to flourish
    Hence to hell with bridgetown and rather take the spoils further inward for cream of the economic crop to feast thereof while the small business man peril in economic starvation
    Oh btw bay street a place where the small black business man once flourished was handed the same death certificate

  35. TheOGazerts Avatar
    TheOGazerts

    Saw this on FB and I am here googling like mad. Unable to find the story

    “The same way we find $16.5M to buy buses to sit down idle for months BECAUSE NO ONE CONSIDERED THAT AN ELECTRIC BUS WOULD NEED A FECKING CHARGING PORT…”

    Perhaps, someone could send me the information for the ports.. I buy a few and Fedex.. and the two of us make a killing..
    Wait a minute… Perhaps I should buy “batteries” as well.

    Wunnah like to pat yourselves on the back.

  36. TheOGazerts Avatar
    TheOGazerts

    Lol. They got bout 10 charging ports that could probably charge 4 buses at a time because no one considered hummuch room a bus would need so they built them close together like they were for charging laptops or mobile phones. I cannot.

  37. Donna Avatar
    Donna

    Wuhlaus! Mariposa mekking sense. Good ideas! Bay Street used to be a treasure.

    That is twice recently. The first was the COVID alarm except that our government did better than she expected.

  38. David Avatar
    David

    https://barbadosunderground.files.wordpress.com/2020/07/electric-bus-charge-ports.png

  39. Greene Avatar
    Greene

    @David

    Nice to see the E buses being fueled up so to speak. it is about time we embrace fully EVs in Bim. the delay is a worry. lots of cheap EVs out there and more are coming. what we need are more charging stations. i suspect that is the problem.

    i have downpaid on a basic Tesla cyber truck. i have even outfitted my house with charging plugs in the garage and car port and have installed solar energy with hopefully 2 Tesla batteries to come.

  40. David Avatar
    David

    @Greene

    They are still being fueled up, not sure why they have not been deployed.

  41. Greene Avatar
    Greene

    i know there was a worry that E buses may not be able to get up Horse Hill. but that went away went a school mate of mine retro fitted an old one with batteries and it performed admirably. i think these ones are big for Bim roads and may hit some electrical wires in some areas but i dont know whether that is the issue

  42. Hants Avatar
    Hants

    CANADA 4-5 hours
    How long does it take to charge the bus? Charge time is a factor of battery size and charging capability. Current buses can charge at the garage at between 50 and 100kW. This is fast enough to ensure that buses can be charged in 4-5 hours.

    BARBADOS 4 to 5 MONTHS…lol

  43. Hants Avatar
    Hants

    The buses do not have to be put on the road simultaneously.

    Maybe they are waiting to create a photo op for a minister and a minister of.

  44. Hants Avatar
    Hants

    Need a new minister in the ministry of Agriculture with special responsibility for preparing to fast track the New Legal Marijuana multi tiered industry.

    The competition is heating up.

    https://www.nationnews.com/nationnews/news/246947/st-lucia-exploring-cannabis-industry

  45. David Avatar
    David

    @Hants

    The impression circulating that there are only four charging stations is incorrect. At on depot there are a minimum of about 8 installed.

  46. Artax Avatar
    Artax

    @ David

    The above referenced Facebook post is rubbish from someone who is prepared to give an opinion without knowing all the relevant facts and then ‘pat themselves on the back’ for talking shiite.

    Obviously, the new units will have to go through a ‘preparation stage’ before they’re place in service. This includes preparing them for inspection, weight certificates, insuring and licensing; installing fare boxes; as well as training and familiarizing drivers, duty drivers, electricians and mechanics with operating them. So, it will take a few weeks before all are in service.

    Shiite, if we had to wait 14 years since TB last purchased buses in 2006, yuh mean we can’t wait a few weeks before the newly acquired ones are on the road?

    The charging stations at Weymouth Headquarters are adequate enough to charge the units. Most likely, more charging stations will be installed at Weymouth, Speightstown and Mangrove Depots.

    I saw one of the new BYD K9 electric buses yesterday, on the ‘by-pass’ route (Speightstown <> Oistins/Airport).

    Is it because the buses are electrically powered people believed they won’t be able to ‘pull’ Horse Hill? That is nonsense.
    And, the buses are not as large as the Mercedes-Benz Marcopolo Torino units or as tall as the Leyland DAF Utic, so there shouldn’t be any problems on the roads or with power lines.

    I believe it is a step in the right direction for TB not to put all the new units on the road at the same time. In the past, TB would retire old units immediately after purchasing new ones…… all of which they would license, insure and place in service at the same time. Then they would have take all of them off the road, at the same time, for maintenance and repairs in preparation for inspection. This would obviously affect the reliability of service.

    Soon, TB is also about to sell off the old scrapped buses at Mangrove Depot.

  47. David Avatar
    David

    PRESCOD’S SAY

    MP declares he has done nothing wrong

    Controversial St Michael East MP Trevor Prescod, dropped in the recent Cabinet reshuiffle and subject of negative rumours on social media, says he has done nothing wrong to deserve the treatment being meted out to him.

    “Trevor Prescod never steal a toffee from the state. Do you believe that I look so outdated that I cannot contribute to the development of Barbados when I see men and women much younger than me that cannot get up those stairs serving at the highest level?”

    He was speaking during yesterday’s Emancipation celebrations at the Emancipation Statue, commonly known as Bussa, at the J.T.C Ramsay Roundabout.

    Prescod, the former Minister of Environment and National Beautification, along with three other ministers and a parliamentary secretary were relieved of their portfolios by Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley on July 22.

    ‘No knee-jerk plans’ “I am not going to make any kneejerk plans; I stand firm. I am not going to get led into a trap by any journalist anywhere. I am not going to be led into a trap by any politician anywhere. The only body who knows what I am thinking is me,” he declared.

    Referring to some of the rumours circulating on social media, Prescod said there were those who were saying he had posted on Facebook he wanted to commit suicide.

    “I believe you heard in recent times that Trevor Prescod is ill, that Trevor Prescod is old . . . [but] I am conscious of who I am. No man, no woman will make me forget who I am. And I want to give you the assurance I will never forsake thee,” he said.

    “You believe that man, who they now saying is dead, who they now saying I am posting things on Facebook,if I could live forever to do the work that allows my people to be recognised as equals in society and everywhere where black people live, I will live forever. But I can only survive with you, the people who stood with me before, and I ask you to stay with me now. Wherever I go, BLP, DLP, I will always be the servant of the people of Barbados.”

    Prescod also had a message for those who felt he would now be silenced having been removed from a ministry.

    “ . . . . I am no racist. I know what justice is, I know what fairness is, I know what loyalty is, I know what commitment is.

    “I have a lot to tell you, but I am not going to tell you all now. It is not the time. I only came out this morning because I had no choice. I did not want the interpretations to go around that I am in such a state of despondency that I can’t even get out of my bed, and I am turning senile and I am concentrating on committing suicide,” he added.

    Addressing John King, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office with responsibility for Culture, who was criticised for opposing the removal of Lord Nelson’s Statue fromNational Hero’s Square, but insisted he only disagreed with it being discarded, Prescod told him he was in the forefront of shaping a national consciousness.

    “You have a responsibility to these people, but they try to drive a wedge. Even at that stage when I recognised the environment at the time, I said ‘forgive John’. They turned that around. If I have a view about something that you do, I owe it to you to say I don’t like what you have done, and I will give you a justification for the position I take,” he told King, who was at the event.(RA)

    Source: Nation

  48. David Avatar
    David

    Reshuffle ‘no big thing’ for overseas Bajans

    By Tony Best

    The recent Cabinet reshuffle, the first by Prime Minister Mia Mottley, is not triggering any major ripples in the Bajan diaspora in Canada and the United States.

    The shake-up is being taken in stride by Bajans, who say they understand the need for changes in the administration.

    And while most feel they were left in the dark by the absence of explanations for Mottley’s moves, a cross section of Bajans in New York, Georgia, Montreal, California, Alberta and Virginia told the Sunday Sunthe dropping of ministers, the elevation of backbenchers to ministerial portfolios, and the shifting of some ministers to different portfolios were not causing them to have sleepless nights about the economy’s management, the running of the nation’s education and health care systems in the COVID-19 era or the need for more housing for the poor.

    “The coronavirus is going to have a negative impact on the Barbados economy and I think there was a need to shake up things a little bit and to bring in some fresh blood” into the Cabinet, said Dr Andy Knight, professor of international relations at the University of Alberta in Edmonton.

    “The Prime Minister has some individuals who can serve and should be given a chance to demonstrate their talent and that they can handle some of the challenges” Barbados faces, Knight said.

    Dr Myrna Lashley, a psychology professor at Canada’s prestigious McGill University in Montreal, said: “Reshuffles are a normal thing in Canada and should be expected in places with governmental systems similar to Canada’s, say, like Barbados,” she said. “It is not a big deal.”

    Peter Clarke, a retired IBM executive in New York, said the reshuffle didn’t take him by surprise.

    “The recent Cabinet reshuffle in Barbados should not come as a surprise,” he said. “Any effective leader will reassess, tweak and reinvigorate their organisations. This happens in all organisations, be they governmental, business, industry or the public sector. They must find an avenue to foster new thoughts, new processes and efficiencies. As long as there is a progressive government, there will be tweaks to accommodate societal shifts. Progression is the goal. An effective leader is in tune with the critical needs of society, thus reflecting paradigm shifts.”

    Applaud her

    The Barbados Government is not any different.

    “Prime Minister Mottley recognises these needs and has acted accordingly. I applaud her on this action,” said Clarke.

    An Episcopal/Anglican priest in Atlanta, the Reverend Richard Winston Arthur, who is also an attorney admitted to practise law in Barbados, applauded Mottley for being decisive in order to achieve her government’s goals.

    “The mandate which the Prime Minister and her original Cabinet were given by the electorate would havechanged from May 2018 to July 2020,” said Arthur, rector of St Michael and All Angels Episcopal Church in Georgia’s Stone Mountain. “The needs and the list of priorities since the last election would have changed because of world events and different economic situations.”

    One such event was the COVID-19 health crisis.

    Arthur said it was clear that after two years in office, the Mottley Administration “had to be seen to be doing something different from what it was doing before” and the reshuffle must have been triggered by the fallout from COVID-19.

    As in the case of several Bajans, Arthur said he didn’t have all of the information and “rationale” for the PM’s move, but was convinced Mottley and her ministers had concluded “there were certain areas which needed to be strengthened” and any prudent leader would engage in selfintrospection. Hence the reshuffle.

    “It just shows the level of foresight, intelligence and adaptive leadership that is being shown and which was clearly absent in the last administration,” he added. “In the last administration there should have been a reshuffle, a re-energising of portfolios and some people (ministers) should have been removed. We saw the results of that. My hat is off to the Prime Minister.”

    ‘Meeting of minds’

    When it came to the ministers who were dropped fromthe Cabinet, Arthur speculated that Mottley and the affected ministers might have had

    a “meeting of the minds” about the changes.

    “We, as the public, don’t have all the facts and we only know the end result,” he said. “We don’t know what motivated the decisions. They could have been a myriad of reasons, including the fact that some of the ministers involved were older politicians and they would no longer run for their (parliamentary) seats and give someone else an opportunity.”

    In Virginia, Shirley Morris, a real estate consultant, said a reshuffle after two years was a “good thing”.

    “It is always good to change ministers and opportunities. People tend to perform better when they get into new arenas,” she said. “It augurs well for the overall performance of the party and the Government.”

    Source: Nation

  49. Sargeant Avatar
    Sargeant

    Member of Parliament Trevor Prescod, who was removed from his post as Minister of Environment and National Beautification when Prime Minister Mia Mottley shuffled her Cabinet last week, is declaring that he has done nothing wrong in the country to deserve the treatment he said he has endured.
    +++++++++++++++++++++
    For those who were waiting to hear Prescod speak

    https://barbadostoday.bb/2020/08/01/trevor-prescod-i-have-done-nothing-wrong/

  50. David Avatar
    David

    @Sargeant

    What did he say?

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