Clarke in cabinet - PM announces portfolio changes

Prime Minister Andrew Holness has made good on his promise to restructure his Cabinet, fitting in his key adviser Dr Nigel Clarke who now heads the Ministry of Finance while shifting Audley Shaw, who previously held the post, to the Ministry of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries.

Last Wednesday, the prime minister told The Gleaner that he was on the verge of reshuffling his Cabinet.

Holness has sought to address the issue of crime at the policy level by placing at the helm of the Ministry of National Security, Dr Horace Chang, while moving Robert Montague to the Ministry of Transport and Mining.

Fayval Williams, who held the post of state minister for finance and the public service, has been promoted to a senior minister in that ministry. This makes Williams the first senior female minister in the Ministry of Finance.

Senior Government ministers Mike Henry and Karl Samuda, who held portfolio responsibilities in the transport and mining and industry, commerce, agriculture and fisheries, respectively, have been shifted to the Office of the Prime Minister without portfolios.

At the same time, Holness has made changes in the junior minister ranks.

Member of parliament (MP) for St Catherine West Central, Alando Terrelonge, is now state minister for culture, gender, entertainment and sports, while Zavia Mayne, the MP for St Ann South Western, is the junior minister for labour and social security.

Pearnel Charles Jr moves to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade from National Security while Rudyard Spencer goes to the Ministry of National Security. He previously held the post of minister of state in the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service.

Holness advised his ministers yesterday of the changes during a meeting of Cabinet.