PRIME MINISTER CHRISTIE COMPLETES CABINET APPOINTMENTS

NASSAU, Bahamas – The Cabinet Office announced today that Prime Minister, the Rt. Hon. Perry G. Christie, has advised His Excellency the Governor-General to complete the formation of the new cabinet with the following additional ministerial appointments:

HON. FREDERICK A. MITCHELL – MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS and IMMIGRATION

HON. V. ALFRED GRAY – MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE, MARINE RESOURCES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT

HON. SHANE GIBSON – MINISTER OF LABOUR AND NATIONAL INSURANCE

HON. GLENYS HANNA MARTIN – MINISTER OF TRANSPORT AND AVIATION

HON. MELANIE GRIFFIN – MINISTER OF SOCIAL SERVICES

HON. DR. MICHAEL DARVILLE – MINISTER FOR GRAND BAHAMA

HON. DR. PERRY GOMEZ – MINISTER OF HEALTH

HON. KENDRED DORSETT-MINISTER OF THE ENVIRONMENT AND HOUSING

HON. DANIEL JOHNSON – MINISTER OF YOUTH SPORTS AND CULTURE

HON. HOPE STRACHAN – MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF TRANSPORT AND AVIATION

HON. KHAALIS ROLLE – MINISTER OF STATE FOR INVESTMENTS IN THE OFFICE OF THE PRIME MINISTER

This second and final group of ministers will be sworn in at Government House at 4pm this afternoon.

In announcing the final group of ministers, Prime Minister Christie said that under ordinary circumstances he would have gone with a smaller cabinet but that the extraordinary challenges facing the country today demanded that he assemble a cabinet that would be able to simultaneously tackle these challenges on a broadest possible front.

Accordingly, the cabinet in its totality is approximately the same size as the cabinet that was announced by the former Prime Minister following the 2007 General Election.

The Prime Minister also indicated that he would be making mid-term ministerial adjustments with a view to bringing into the cabinet some of the government backbenchers not included in the first round of selections. The Prime Minister advised that this was particularly important having regard to his commitment to ensure the promotion of ‘new generation’ candidates to a dominant position in his government during the course of the present term.

The Prime Minister also announced that Mr. Anthony Moss, the Member–Elect for Exuma has been appointed Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture and Marine Resources and Mrs. Cleola Hamilton, the Member of Parliament-elect for South Beach has been appointed Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry of Transport and Aviation, and Renward Wells, the MP-elect for Bamboo Town, have been appointed Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry of Works and Urban Development.

Mrs. Hamilton, Mr. Moss and Mr. Wells will be sworn in at a separate ceremony at Government House on Monday. The Prime Minister also announced that at the opening of the new Parliament on the 23rd May the Government would move for the election of Dr. Kendal Major, the member-elect for the Garden Hills constituency as the next Speaker of the Hon. House of Assembly; and for the election of Deon Smith, the member-elect for the Nassau Village constituency, as Deputy Speaker.