Time to accelerate - GG, Golding tell new ministers to prove themselves
Published:Thursday | June 30, 2011 | 12:00 AM
Daraine Luton, Senior Staff Reporter
The new ministers and junior minister sworn in yesterday, during a ceremony at King's House in St Andrew, have been warned that they have a short window of time in which to prove their worth before the next general election.
"For you, this is a carpe diem, a seize-the-day moment, because you have a limited time in which to achieve results and convince everyone that you know the times and what must be done," Governor General Sir Patrick Allen declared during the swearing-in ceremony at his official residence.
Sir Patrick was addressing new Energy and Mining Minister Clive Mullings, Agriculture Minister Robert Montague, and junior ministers Dr St Aubyn Bartlett (national security), Gregory Mair (education) and Othneil Lawrence (transport and works).
The swearing-in of the men came hours after Golding on Tuesday night reshaped his Cabinet.
Delroy Chuck, who is to move from the position of House speaker to justice minister, and Arthur Williams, who will become a minister without portfolio in the Cabinet Office, were off the island on official business. They are to be sworn in at a later date.
Yesterday, the governor general told those who have been sworn in that a lot is weighing on their shoulders.
"The nation anxiously awaits your stepping into action and demonstrating that you will acquit yourselves worthy of the confidence which the prime minister has placed in you and which the nation expects," Sir Patrick said.
Hit the ground running
Similarly, Golding underscored the point that his new ministers must hit the ground running.
"You are coming to office in the new capacities that you hold almost four years in the life of this administration," the prime minister observed.
He added: "In the case of Clive Mullings, he has been there before and, therefore, his learning curve can be very sharp and short. In the case of Bobby Montague, he has worked within the Office of the Prime Minister with specific responsibilities for local government and, therefore, he knows what ministerial responsibility is like and will not have much difficulty in transitioning to Cabinet responsibilities."
Ducks to water
Golding also said the state ministers had distinguished themselves in Parliament and in other fora and said he was sure they would deliver on his investment of confidence in them.
"I believe they will be able to take to their jobs as ducks to water," he said.
The prime minister said good work has been done in the ministries that have been affected by the reassignment of personnel but noted that, like the captain of a cricket or football team, he has to make changes as the nature of play dictates.
"What I expect of these ministers is that they will, in a seamless way, take hold of their ministries ... and keep that rhythm going and even accelerate it," Golding said.
He added: "We have turned the corner but we still have a far way to go. We still have challenges to face. The global environment is still nowhere as friendly as we would like it to be and I think we have charted a good course."