The People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Government has appointed several new Permanent Secretaries to serve at key Ministries.
In a statement on Thursday, the Office of the President (OP) announced these appointments.
These include Malcolm Watkins as the new Permanent Secretary at the Health Ministry. Watkins had served as Procurement Manager and Deputy Director of the Materials Management Unit (MMU) under the previous PPP/C Administration.
He holds a Master of Organisational Leadership from Southern New Hampshire University. Watkins is also a Certified Supply Chain Professional.
The Amerindian Affairs Ministry also got a new PS in the person of Sharon Hicks. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Accountancy and a Certificate in Developmental Psychology.
Hicks previously held the position of Management Development Officer at the Amerindian Affairs Ministry, and she also held the position of Auditor as well as Internal Affairs Investigator at the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA).
At the Home Affairs Ministry , Mae Toussaint Jr Thomas has been appointed as the Permanent Secretary. She holds a Diploma in Accountancy from the University of Guyana and a Certificate in Project Management. Thomas previously served as the Assistant Accountant at the Office of the President.
Meanwhile, Vladim Persaud is the new PS at the Public Works Ministry. He previously served as Head of the Finance Department at the Guyana National Bureau of Standards (GNBS) and earlier, at the Finance Ministry as an Economic and Financial Analyst II, in the Budget, Fiscal and Monetary Division.
Persaud holds a BSc in Economics, a Graduate Diploma in Development Studies, and a Master of Public Administration from the University of Guyana and currently is pursuing an International Master of Business Administration at the Arthur Lok Jack Graduate School of Business.
The new Permanent Secretary at the Human Services and Social Security Ministry is Shannielle E Hoosein-Outar. She holds a BSc in Business Management and a Post-Graduate Diploma in International Relations from the University of Guyana. Hoosein-Outar previously served as the Development Manager at Massy Guyana Ltd.
On the other hand, Andre Ally has been appointed as PS at the Housing and Water Ministry. He had previously served at the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA) as the Head of ICT from 2008 to 2017, and more recently, at ANSA McAL as the Country Manager and later its Regional Manager.
Ally holds a Master of Business Administration from the Australian Institute of Business and several professional IT Certificates.
The new Permanent Secretary at the Labour Ministry is Bishram Kuppen. He is a former two-term elected Councillor of the Georgetown City Council. Kuppen previously served as a Corporate Management Officer at an international company abroad for many years and a Commissioned Officer of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF).
Additionally, the Tourism, Industry and Commerce Ministry has a new PS in the person of Sharon Roopchand-Edwards. She is an economist by training and previously held the position of Principal Academic Engagement Officer within the Office of the Deputy Vice-Chancellor at the University of Guyana.
She also taught out of the Department of Economics at UG and served as a Director on the Board at the Bank of Guyana (BoG) and a member of its Audit Committee. Roopchand-Edwards also served on a number of other Boards and Committees, including the Competition and Consumer Affairs Commission (CCAC).
