…Norton for Social Cohesion Ministry
…Lawrence new Public Health Minister
…Ally leads Social Protection Ministry
after declaring late last year that there would be no changes to his Cabinet, President David Granger in a surprise move on Tuesday made some significant changes to his pool of decision makers.
Among the changes within Cabinet is the removal of Public Health Minister, Dr George Norton, who will now be taking over the Social Cohesion Ministry.
Dr Norton continuously found himself in “hot water” over the past months, especially as it relates to the controversial rental of the pharmaceutical bond at Sussex Street, Georgetown, which is billing Government in excess of $14 million per month.
In fact, only last month during the consideration of the 2017 Budget estimates, a visit to the facility by a delegation set up by the Speaker of the National Assembly revealed that no actual drugs or pharmaceuticals were being stored there.
This came in light of the fact that the Minister had said that there was an urgent need for the facility hence it was single-sourced from Linden Holdings Inc, a company owned by People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) member Larry Singh.
Meanwhile, Minister Volda Lawrence will now be heading the Public Health Ministry while Minister Amna Ally will be taking over the Social Protection Ministry.
This reshuffling comes less than a month after President Granger told reporters on the Public Interest programme that there would be no changes to Cabinet and he was “confident going into 2017 with the same team”, a position he had also taken back in September.
Not reshuffle but adjustments
The Head of State explained on Tuesday that it was his responsibility to continuously assess the ability of his Cabinet; hence, he found it necessary to look at the way the Public Health, Social Protection and Social Cohesion Ministries were performing and made some adjustments accordingly.
“It’s not a reshuffle, I would call it a shift to ensure that Government continues to deliver quality of public service to the people of Guyana… As you know in 2016, there were some criticisms and I felt the criticisms were detracting from the Cabinet as a whole and as a result, I thought it prudent and healthy to make the changes at the beginning of 2017,” the President pointed out.
According to President Granger, this is a positive move aimed at improving the delivery of public service to Guyanese.
Against the backdrop of criticisms on the quality of national unity and social cohesion in Guyana, the President is of the belief that Dr Norton, given his background as Leader of the Guyanese Organisation of Indigenous People (GOIP), a partner in the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) coalition, would 
make critical contributions in bringing about social cohesion, especially with his depth of knowledge on the hinterland.”So when we look at social cohesion, we’re not just looking at African/Indian, we are not just looking at ethnic or religious problem, we are looking at the spatial dimension and I felt that he had an advantage in the knowledge of the hinterland because our Administration has always spoken about closing the gap between coastland and hinterland. I believe he is ideally suited for that,” Granger posited.
Norton’s take
However, when contacted on Tuesday, the former Health Minister related that the announcement was dropped suddenly on him by the Government and as such, he would now be entering a field that was very foreign to him.
“I don’t know what I’m going to do. I don’t know anything about the (Social Cohesion) Ministry. It’s not only new to me but to everyone…all I know in my life is health care. That’s my expertise, my forte,” he asserted. 
The Minister further explained that the only explanation provided to him about his demotion was that the Government was trying to protect him from the “Opposition and the media”; however, he posited those attacks only made him stronger.
“They said the kind of attack I was getting was not permitting me to perform…I was even more prepared. I’m not a failure. I was doing a great job and worked beyond the call of duty across the country!” said the seemingly distraught Norton.
On the other hand, the Head of State pointed out that Minister Lawrence would be taking some managerial skills to the Public Health Ministry. “Largely, it’s a problem in terms of materials and human resources and the delivery of services to the various regions of Guyana and I believe she will be ideally suited to that Ministry,” he noted.
Controversial situations
Like her predecessor at the Public Health Ministry, Minister Lawrence had found
Dr George Norton
herself in several controversial situations last year. She came under fire after throwing her support behind an alleged child molester who had contested and was elected in his constituency during the March 2016 Local Government Elections. This issue sparked much public outrage, particularly among rights groups and activists who staged several protests outside the Ministry calling for Lawrence to be removed from office.
However, she found herself back into the limelight more recently when she counter-protested a vigil held by the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) against Government’s move to revoke the lease on the Cheddi Jagan Research Centre Inc (CJRCI) on Friday last.
With regard to Ally’s transfer, President Granger outlined that Minister Ally has a good knowledge of the needs of the ordinary people in the urban and rural areas. “So I believe, in terms of social protection, she will be able to bring skills in terms of her ability to interact with people, her knowledge in terms of the problems affecting poor people and I’m very confident she will supplement the work that had been done before,” he stated.
PPP/C unimpressed
Meanwhile, in its reaction to the new changes to the Administration’s pool of Cabinet members, the PPP/Civic posited that this move was nothing but a diversion from the Red House saga as well as the end-of-year crippling anti-people budget, both of which have projected the regime in an unfavourable light to its own supporters and the public at large.
The Opposition added that it was unimpressed by the changes, while calling on Guyanese to remain vigilant against the political antics of the Granger Administration. (Vahnu Manikchand)
