Pres Ali appoints 2 new Permanent Secretaries, 6 others reassigned in major shake-up

President Dr Irfaan Ali on Thursday announced a major shakeup in the appointments of Permanent Secretaries across several Government Ministries, with two new faces lined up to take up the senior positions.
Alfred King, who currently serves as the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Education, is expected to be reassigned to the Office of the Prime Minister.
Shanielle Hossein-Outar will now be placed as Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Education. She currently serves as Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Human Services and Social Security.
Prema Roopnarine will now take up the position of Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Human Services and Social Security. She currently serves as the PS of the Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development.
Also on the list to be reassigned is Bishram Kuppen, the current Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Labour. He will be taking up the role of Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Housing and Water.
Andre Ally, currently the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Housing and Water, will be the new PS at the Ministry of Home Affairs.
As such, Mae Toussaint Jr Thomas, who is the PS at the Home Affairs Ministry, will now be serving as the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Labour.
Meanwhile, Adele Diane Tricia Cole-Clarke is expected to be appointed as the Permanent Secretary in the Legal Affairs Ministry while the former Head of Regional Planning in the State Planning Unit of the Ministry of Finance, Miguel Shaun Choo-Kang should be announced as the Permanent Secretary of the Local Government and Regional Development Ministry.
These announcements by the Head of State were made via a press statement to the media but no explanation was given for the shake-up.
However, back in April this year, PS Thomas was travelling on official duties to China and in transit in the US, where she was detained and allegedly manhandled by male officers attached to the US Customs and Border Protection. Her mobile phone was also confiscated during the ordeal.
Reports are that Thomas was singled out at the Miami Airport and taken into a room to be grilled during her transit in the US. Thomas, who is married to American citizen Dameion Meerabux, was held for some three hours during which she was asked basic questions by the male officers, until a female officer entered the room and took other personal details. In fact, a source had told this publication that the Guyanese official felt as though she was violated.
The Permanent Secretary was travelling on a Service Passport and despite her informing the CBP officers that she was on official duties, she was reportedly slammed into a wall, handcuffed, and humiliated in front of a group of Spanish-speaking passengers.
Additionally, her phone containing sensitive information relating to Government policies as well as personal information was confiscated and searched despite her explaining that the device belonged to the Government of Guyana and clearance must be given by her superiors before she could hand it over.
However, she was reportedly denied a request to make contact with officials of the Guyana Government. Instead, she was told that she was in US territory and that her rights to do so were forfeited.
Thomas was later released and continued her journey to China. However, she had to travel via the London-Barbados-Guyana routine on her return home since her US visa was revoked.