Thursday July 3, 2003

Second wave of reassignment of Permanent Secretaries effected
- President’s Information Liaison

Georgetown, GINA, July 3, 2003

The second wave of reassignment of Permanent Secretaries within the various Government Ministries has been effected. This disclosure was made today to the Government Information Agency (GINA) by Information Liaison to the President Robert Persaud.
Head of the Presidential Secretariat Dr. Roger Luncheon at his weekly post-Cabinet Media briefing held at the Office of the President on June 11, announced key reassignments of the first batch of Permanent Secretaries, with immediate effect.

Below are the reassignments in the second wave:

Name of Permanent Secretary	Ministry previously served within	Ministry/Agency reassigned to
Sonia Roopnauth	Tourism, Industry and Commerce	Health Ministry
Willet Hamilton (Acting)	..........................	Ministry of Tourism, Industry and Commerce
Doerga Persaud	Health	Executive Director Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

Hamilton replaces Ms. Doodnauth and is the Acting Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Ministry of Tourism, Industry and Commerce., According to the President’s Information Liaison, Mr. Doerga Persaud, former Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Health was nominated as the Executive Director of the Environmental Protection Agency and the EPA Board of Director unanimously endorsed this nomination.

Prior to his tenure at the Ministry of Health, the former Permanent Secretary served as the Head of the Guyana Natural Resources Agency (GNRA) and has remained active in the Natural Resources Sector.
Last month, Hydar Ally, who served as the Permanent Secretary within the Ministry of Education was reassigned to the Office of the President as the Deputy Head of the Presidential Secretariat.

Dr. Luncheon in making the announcement on June 11 had said that, “The Office of the President - the Executive Arm of Government has had the realities of the new Parliament and the impositions of the Executive Parliament adding additional weight and hastening its discussions on the restructuring and changes in Executives at the Public Service level,” he explained.

According to Dr. Luncheon, the Office of the President, took a decision to respond to these changes and consequently a Deputy HPS was appointed.
“Mr. Hydar Ally is one of the most experienced Permanent Secretaries and in the context of the new demands based on the Office of the President, would be providing needed support and ensuring that the Office of the President remains capable in discharging this new mandate,” he added.

Below is a listing of the first batch of reassigned Permanent Secretaries:

Name of Permanent Secretary	Ministry previously served within	Ministry reassigned to
Ganga Persaud	Legal Affairs	Education
Mitra Devi Ally	Labour, Human Services and Social Security	Legal Affairs
Phulander Khandi	Local Government and Regional Development	Labour, Human Services and Social Security
Philip Hamilton	Ministry of Amerindian Affairs &the now dissolved Ministry of Information	Local Government and Regional Development