PRIME MINISTER

THE HONOURABLE BALDWIN SPENCER

CABINET RESTRUCTURING

NATIONAL ADDRESS

JANUARY 5, 2005

Fellow Antiguans and Barbudans here at home and in other lands;

Residents, Visitors and Friends of Antigua and Barbuda:

Good evening.

In my New Year’s Message to the nation, I disclosed my intention to review the structure of the Cabinet and the assignment of ministerial responsibilities.

Since my disclosure, I have had the benefit of advice on this matter from a broad spectrum of the society.

I thank all who have expressed views on this issue.

I welcome the opinions, solicited and voluntary, that has been proffered to me.

The degree of consideration that I have given to such counsel might be surprising to some.

I assure you, nonetheless, that I have listened intently to all who have commented through the media and directly to me.

I continue to be gratified at the extent of the nation’s interest in the workings of the government.

This is a manifestation of the population’s embrace of the principle of the participatory democracy which cradles the new political culture and the new governance that the United Progressive Party has pledged to the Antiguan and Barbudan people.

My decisions on the restructuring of the Cabinet are unlikely to find full favour with the entire society.

I act, nonetheless, on the basis of the resources available in our parliamentary democracy, and in the pragmatic context of the tasks facing the government and the country.

I am grateful to the electorate for the parliamentary team that you have made available to me for governing the country.

I am grateful to that team, drawn from both Houses of Parliament, for the volume and calibre of each member’s contribution to the national good during my administration’s brief and manifestly productive tenure.

Very shortly, the three key planks of the Caribbean Single  Market and Economy, Barbados, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago move from preparation phase to full implementation.

This means that it could not possibly be business as usual for Antigua and Barbuda once the Caribbean Single Market is up and running.

Parallel with this, Antigua and Barbuda has begun seriously to come to terms with its obligations to the international community.

This is an indispensable precondition to functioning in the current global economy and regaining the cooperation and support of the international community of nations; as well as that of the Caribbean community.

Related to this, new integrity legislation, new revenue measures and fiscal disciplines introduced in the 2005 Budget, together with a responsible attitude to managing the country’s debt, are already proving extremely beneficial to Antigua and Barbuda.

Directly related to this, the Minister of Finance and the Economy, Dr. the Honourable Errol Cort, returned from Rome on Christmas Eve with formal confirmation of substantial reduction, running into hundreds of millions of dollars in negotiated debt reduction.

Dr. Cort will confirm the details of this momentous development over the next couple of days.

Dr. Cort retains his portfolios for Finance and the Economy.

The Minister of Finance was accompanied on his trip to Rome by Senator, the Honourable Aziz Hadeed, who played a key role in the negotiations for the reduction of the close to half a billion dollar Royal Antiguan Hotel Italian debt.

Senator, Hadeed, now Minister of State attached to the Office of the Prime Minister, will be given full Cabinet Rank as Minister without Portfolio.

This appointment will give the Prime Minister the option of deploying Minister Hadeed’s considerable experience and insight as exigencies dictate, on an ongoing basis.

2005 opens with new emphasis on Education and Training as critical  keys to preparing Antigua and Barbuda’s young people for 21st century job options; for moving people from poverty to self sufficiency and for rapidly transforming our country to developed country status and standards within a decade.

In this context, the country must make optimum use of the $25 Million budget that Mr. Allen Stanford has pledged to new educational facilities.

To these ends, a streamlined, single focus, Ministry of Education will replace the existing troika of portfolios.

I continue to look to the Honourable Bertrand Joseph to lead what I fully intend to be a revolution in education in Antigua and Barbuda.

To intensify the focus on our youth, the Honourable Winston Williams, now Parliamentary Secretary attached to the Ministry of Health, Sports and Youth Affairs, will be appointed Minister in that Ministry, with designated responsibility for Sports and Youth Affairs.

I will be relying on the Minister of Health, Sports and Youth Affairs, the Honourable John Maginley, to play a central role in the negotiations through which I expect significant reduction and swift settlement of the debt owed to the Bank of Antigua on the Mount St. John’s Medical Centre project.

My target is full settlement of the Mount St. John debt within the year.

Should this be achieved, consideration may then be given to placing a cap on individual contributions to the Medical Benefits Scheme.

Minister Maginley’s business experience will be valuable in negotiating a strategic alliance with a suitable partner for the operation of the Mount St. John Medical Centre.

In this regard, I expect that the Government will, by March of this year, begin discussions with qualified organisations, in negotiating an alliance for the eventual operation of Mount St. John Medical Centre.

Senator, the Honourable Joanne Massiah, now Minister of State attached to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food Production and Marine Affairs, will be appointed Minister in the same Ministry, with designated responsibility for Food Production and Marine Affairs.

Minister Massiah will be charged with the responsibility of formulating appropriate strategies to ensure eventual food security for the nation; sustainable self-sufficiency in food production; and on-time produce, poultry and sea food supply for the school meals programme, which will commence in the new school year.

The Minister of Agriculture, Food Production and Marine Affairs, the Honourable Charlesworth Samuel, will have the task of formulating a comprehensive National Land Use Policy by mid-year.

The Honourable Wilmoth Daniel will lead a restructured Ministry of Works that will embrace the Environment, with Telecommunications moving to the Office of the Prime Minister.

The Honourable Hilson Baptiste, now Minister of State attached to the Ministry of Tourism, External Affairs, International Transportation and Trade, will be appointed Minister of Housing, Culture and Social Transformation.

The Honourable Eleston Adams, now Parliamentary Secretary attached to the Ministry of Social Transformation, will be appointed Minister in that Ministry, with designated responsibility for Culture.

This will embrace the Community Pride programme; Jubilation, the annual World Gospel Festival; and the Independence Homecoming Festival.

Dr. the Honourable Jacqui Quinn-Leandro, now Minister of State attached to the Office of the Prime Minister, will be appointed Minister of Public Administration, Labour and Empowerment.

Minister Quinn-Leandro will be responsible for job placement.

This will be a pivotal responsibility in the coordination of the substantial number of job opportunities that “Project Opportunity”, one of the fundamentals of the Government/Stanford Alliance for Education and Empowerment, will generate.

In my New Year’s Message to the Nation, I noted the nation’s concern at the seemingly slow pace of the justice process in a number on high profile matters.

This led me to stress the need to buttress the Executive arm of the justice system.

One of our realities is that over the years, this arm of the Government has been seriously compromised by inadequate resources in every context.

With the pressing need for Law Reform, a significant legislative agenda, and the likely engagement of the Attorney General in leading the state’s legal teams in selected trials, it is necessary to restructure what is now the Office of the Attorney General, and the Ministry of Justice and Legal Affairs.

With the internationalization of crime, including terrorism, and with the corresponding internationalization of justice, the Honourable Justin Simon will be heavily involved in the international dimensions of these matters.

Within this framework, Senator, the Honourable Colin Derrick, now Minister of Social Transformation, will be appointed Minister of Justice and Legal Affairs.

In this new ministry, Minister Derrick will have responsibility for Intellectual Property matters, Legal Aid, the Land Registry, the Companies Registry, Penal Reform, Public Prosecutions and Special Investigations.

There is hardly any need for me to stress the relevance and the urgency of the matters that will fall under the purview of the new Minister of Justice and legal affairs.

Senator, the Honourable, Dr. Edmond Mansoor, now President of the Senate, will be appointed Minister in the Office of the Prime Minister, with designated responsibility for Information, Broadcasting and Telecommunications.

Consequent upon this, Senator, the Honourable Hazeline Francis will be appointed President of the Senate.

Senator Mc Kenzie Frank of Barbuda, will be appointed Vice President of the Senate.

Tourism is Antigua and Barbuda’s key strategic export industry.

That will not change.

If anything, even in a diversified economy, tourism will drive growth and development.

I am resolute that Antigua and Barbuda must be in a position to sustain whatever tourism surge World Cup Cricket brings in 2007.

Tourism must henceforth be a stand-alone ministry.

I have therefore decided to free up the Honourable Harold Lovell, so that he moves speedily to move Antigua and Barbuda to the best brand in Caribbean tourism.

Budget 2005 provides a meaningful marketing allocation for tourism.

Minister Lovell will now concentrate his energies on this country’s make-or-break industry.

To this end, Minister Lovell will lead the restructured Ministry of Tourism and civil aviation.

Telecommunications, Money Laundering, the new Antigua and Barbuda Investment Authority, Merchant Shipping, Shipping Registration, International Affairs and International Trade will be included in the Prime Minister’s portfolios.

I wish to thank all of my Ministers, incumbent and imminent for readily accepting my call to national service.

It stands to reason that restructuring at the Cabinet level will be followed by redeployment of senior public officers and long overdue transformation of the entire public service apparatus.

Fellow Antiguans and Barbudans here at home and in other lands;

Residents, Visitors and Friends of Antigua and Barbuda:

I wish especially to thank his Excellency, the Governor General, for graciously consenting to my advice and my request for the relevant instruments and the swearing-in ceremony to take place tomorrow.

Thank you.  Good night. May God bless you.

May God bless our nation.