Trinidad have 23 ministers with 21 portfolios.

[Willi]

Jamaica a joke! LoL

The Patrick Manning team won 26 seats out of 41 and 21 Ministers were given portfolios!

From the Trinidad Guardian Newspaper
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Newly-appointed Local Government Minister Hazel Manning smiles broadly, as her husband Prime Minister Patrick Manning plants a kiss on her cheek during yesterday's swearing-in ceremony of government ministers, senators and parliamentary secretaries at President's House in St Ann's. Photo: KARLA RAMOO

Manning introduced 31 members of his government team yesterday at President's House
The team includes 23 ministers, among them ten senators
He has reappointed ten previous ministers and 13 new ones .

[Karl]

Possible Manning is thinking thi si shis last lap...therefore less 'full up the tanks"! Money a-guh run!

[Willi]

He had about 20 the last time.

[Mosiah]

making a point, willi?

[Islandman]

If Bruce can bridge this gap him can have 30 ministers for all I care. Lets see what he can do.

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Trinidad Economy (2007 est.)
GDP: U.S. $20.9 billion (current prices).
Annual growth rate: 5.5% (2007 est.), 12.2% (2006 preliminary).
Per capita income: U.S. $16,041.

Jamaican Economy
GDP (2005): $9.7 billion.
Real growth rate (2006): 2.5%.
Per capita GDP (2005): $3,640.

[Lazie]

If Bruce can bridge this gap him can have 30 ministers for all I care. Lets see what he can do.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Trinidad Economy (2007 est.)
GDP: U.S. $20.9 billion (current prices).
Annual growth rate: 5.5% (2007 est.), 12.2% (2006 preliminary).
Per capita income: U.S. $16,041.

Jamaican Economy
GDP (2005): $9.7 billion.
Real growth rate (2006): 2.5%.
Per capita GDP (2005): $3,640.

... and thats what many of them fail to understand. Last Saturday me deh a Queens and a comrade a ask why dem need 3 man fi duh the job that Omar used to duh. Sound like Jawge don't it? Well mi tell him when him get sober him must review Omar's 14 years as MOF then slap himself for being silly.

[Willi]

We hold these truths to be self-evident. LoL

[Mosiah]

I don't care either. But what about campaign promises?

[Lazie]

I don't care either. But what about campaign promises?

Can you stop with this campaign promise foolishness? The 5th step in strategic management is CHANGE. What if he re evaluated and realized that there was a need to increase it?

[Mosiah]

Or what if he was making unrealistic campaign promises?

[Lazie]

Or what if he was making unrealistic campaign promises?

What is unrealistic about it! Him could name only 10 cabinet ministers to please unuh, however the reality is the man realize that there is alot to be done, because unlike the previous gov't, him know his administration won't be there anywhere near 18 years.

Ease off wid the campaign promise ting, knock dem based on their performance.

[Sickko]

Can we get a list of these Ministries/portfolios and how large are these constituencies?

Thinking about the size of T&T compared to Jamaica and the number of Constituencies we have, I am thinking that each constituency in T&T maybe as big as a Division here.

[Willi]

Can we get a list of these Ministries/portfolios and how large are these constituencies?

Thinking about the size of T&T compared to Jamaica and the number of Constituencies we have, I am thinking that each constituency in T&T maybe as big as a Division here.

TnT have like 1.3m people and they have about 60% land space compared to ours (I think). They had 36 seats beore this election and now they have 41.

Not sure what their portfolios are..haffi chek the triniexpress site.

[Willi]

Can we get a list of these Ministries/portfolios and how large are these constituencies?

Thinking about the size of T&T compared to Jamaica and the number of Constituencies we have, I am thinking that each constituency in T&T maybe as big as a Division here.

NEW PORTFOLIO: Prime Minister Patrick Manning gives his wife, Hazel, a congratulatory kiss after she was sworn in as Minister of Local Government yesterday at President's House, St Ann's.
Prime Minister Patrick Manning's announcement that People's National Movement (PNM) public relations officer Jerry Narace is the new Health Minister was just one of the many surprising appointments in the new Cabinet.

"He delivers. He delivers," Manning told reporters yesterday about Narace's new assignment.

Another surprise announcement was Manning's decision to transfer his wife, Hazel Manning, from her portfolio as the Education Minister to that as the Minister of Local Government. There had been a public debate over whether Manning should have given his wife a portfolio in the last government.

The appointment of attorney Karen Nunez-Tesheira as the sole Minister of Finance also surprised many.

The interesting choices were revealed yesterday, as President George Maxwell Richards swore in the new Cabinet during a simple ceremony at President's House, St Ann's.

In all, 23 ministers, ten senators, five ministers of state and three parliamentary secretaries were sworn-in, out of which 11 are women.

As the Express exclusively reported yesterday, attorney Brigid Annisette-George replaced John Jeremie as Attorney General, and is the third woman to have ever received such an appointment.

Manning told reporters after the swearing-in ceremony that there should be no question of her qualifications for the job.

"She has been on the bar for over 25 years, quite experienced. She also has been in the PNM for a long time and in fact is a member of the central executive. She is also very experienced in politics, ... she has served before as chairman of the Diego Martin Regional Corporation," Manning said.

Asked why Jeremie was not appointed for a second term, Manning said at the end of a term all portfolios also come to an end and "the Prime Minister is free to make new arrangements as he sees fit".

Among the changes made by Manning was his decision to transfer Dr Keith Rowley from the Housing Ministry portfolio to that of Minister of Trade and Industry. Manning has now merged the Housing, Planning and Environment portfolios into one mega-ministry, to be managed by its new minister, Dr Emily Gaynor Dick-Forde.

Manning also created a new Information Ministry and its minister is former journalist Neil Parsenlal.

Arnold Piggott has been replaced as the Minister of Foreign Affairs by newcomer Paula Gopee-Scoon.

Piggott is now the new Minister of Agriculture, Land and Marine Resources.

Christine Kangaloo, who had served as the Legal Affairs Minister for the past five years, has replaced Mustapha Abdul-Hamid as the Minister of Science, Technology and Tertiary Education.

Abdul-Hamid is the new Minister of Public Utilities and Peter Taylor will now serve as the Legal Affairs Minister.

Furthermore, only two Cabinet members other than Manning have retained the posts they held in the last five-year term.

Martin Joseph will continue to serve as the National Security Minister, although he was under fire for much of his previous term, while Colm Imbert will continue to serve as the Works and Transport Minister.

Speaking to reporters after the ceremony, Manning gave an insight into some of the decisions regarding his new Cabinet.

Asked why he decided to give Mrs Manning the Local Government portfolio from Rennie Dumas, who is now going to be the Minister of Labour and Small and Micro Enterprise Development, Manning said, "Much transformation work has to go on in the Ministry of Local Government and a new system of Local Government has to be put in place. She has demonstrated a great skill in that transformational work, and therefore has been given that responsibility."

Asked about the choice of Nunez-Tesheira, he said, "When I became Minister of Finance myself, I was inexperienced in finance. What do I know about finance?"

Manning said Nunez-Tesheira has been the vice-principal at the Hugh Wooding Law School "and, therefore, in that capacity, is doing a lot of management", which includes matters of finance.

Conrad Enill will now be serving as the Minister of Energy and Energy Industries, having replaced Dr Lenny Saith, who had held that portfolio for the past two years, along with that of Public Administration.

Saith has been appointed as a Minister in the Office of the Prime Minister and Manning said his years of knowledge and experience will be used in the management of the Cabinet, including giving advice to some of the new ministers.