Farley hopes for the best; Christlyn welcomes Dillon’s reassignment

Farley Augustine, Minority Assemblyman for Parlatuvier/LAnse Fourmi/Speyside, on Tuesday, likened Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley’s reshuffling of his cabinet last Monday to that a deck of cards in that it was likley to yield the same results.

Augustine, speaking at a Minority Council’s media briefing at James Park, Scarborough, said:

“If you have a deck of cards, you can shuffle that same deck of cards a million times, the outcome will almost be the same because the possibilities are limited by the number of cards in a deck.

“Reshuffling the cabinet a million times does not change the fact that the PNM (People’s National Movement) majority is incompetent. All that we are seeing is the moving around of the incompetence from one area to another area and so, like everyone else in the country, we hope for the best,” he said.

Augustine nevertheless wished new Minister of National Security Stuart Young all the best in his new endeavour.

“We would never wish in any way failure with regards the issue of national security, we wish for the very best, but we are not optimistic at all. If success comes, we would be happy.

“We are not optimistic, but we are praying that it doesn’t get worse… I believe that where Trinidad and Tobago is in terms of security is far too untenable and getting worse, it means that this place will be unliveable,” Augustine said.

Also weighing in on the cabinet reshuffle was Political Leader of the Tobago Forwards, Christlyn Moore, who described it as an attempt to realign the national security apparatus from a management perspective.

Moore, speaking at a Tobago Forwards media briefing at the Scarborough port on Tuesday, said that Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley has lost confidence in Edmund Dillon as national security minister and praised the decision.

“I think it was a good decision, it also speaks to other things, it speaks to the Prime Minister’s confidence in Stuart Young and his lack of confidence in Dillon. It also makes sense because you have a new incoming Commissioner of Police and an outgoing one.

“Gary Griffith comes in, we wish him the best, we wish him all success and we hope that the challenges that Williams faced, that he (Griffith) in conjunction with Stuart Young will be able to surmount,” she said.

Ministerial changes were announced by way of a media release from the Office of the Prime Minister at 12.24 on Monday. With Rowley advising President Paula-Mae Weekes to revoke Dillon’s appointment as National Security Minister and appoint Communications Young. Young retains his communications portfolio and also remains a minister in the OPM. His appointment as Minister in the Ministry of the Attorney General and Legal Affairs was revoked.

Rowley's assignment as Housing Minister was revoked and Dillon, a former TT Defence Force Chief of Staff, has been appointed Housing Minister.

The PM had assumed the housing portfolio in a Cabinet reshuffle on April 9 which saw Darryl Smith reassigned from the Sports Ministry and becoming a minister in the Housing Ministry before he was fired from that post 24 hours later.

The latest reshuffle also saw the duties of La Horquetta/Talparo MP Maxie Cuffie further reduced from Minister to Parliamentary Secretary in the Public Administration Ministry. Cuffie had a stroke last September and spent months recuperating at a hospital in Washington, DC.

Cuffie returned home on July 27 and is expected to return to work in early September. In April, Rowley had Cuffie reassigned from Public Administration Minister to Minister in the Public Administration Ministry. He also promoted Port of Spain South MP Marlene McDonald from a minister in that ministry to Public Administration Minister.

The PM also told the President that McDonald returned to work last Thursday. McDonald had pneumonia last month and had been on sick leave.

The statement said the President made these ministerial changes in accordance with the provisions of Sections 3(9), 76(3) and 79(1) and 82(1) of the Constitution on the PM's advice.