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by pltm
(PLTM) - After announcing plans to engage three Permanent Secretaries to execute the large portfolio under the Premier’s Office, Government has announced plans to establish a new Department of Environment and Climate Change.
Premier and Minister of Finance, Dr. Natalio Wheatley stated that after careful consideration and internal consultations, an adjustment to the initial Ministerial portfolios announced after the General Election.
“I am pleased to report that we have established the Ministry of Environment, Natural Resources and Climate Change as a ministry in its own right, that stands separately from the Premier’s Office. I will serve as Minister over this portfolio,” Dr. Wheatley told a press conference on Tuesday, May 16.
He told reporters that the move demonstrates the importance we assign to the environment and all the critical issues involved in its preservation and sustainable use, as well as the existential threat of climate change.
“I am looking forward to the Ministry’s establishment of a Department of Environment and Climate Change to respond to these needs,” the Premier outlined.
With a large portfolio under his ministry such as agriculture, tourism and natural resources, the Premier earlier this month pointed out that ideally an additional Minister is needed.
“…But in order to help myself just like the last administration I had two permeant secretaries, I will continue to have two permanent secretaries with possibility of adding another to make sure that the work is getting done and no area is being neglected,” Dr. Wheatley stated today, May 2. The Premier said shifting subjects to his Ministry was necessary to facilitate the creation of a fifth ministry which is now headed by Deputy Premier, Hon. Lorna Smith.
“Ultimately, we need an additional Ministry. We have provisions for a sixth Ministry, in order to that you will have to add two seats to the House of Assembly and that is really a conversation for the people of the Virgin Islands whether that is something that they have an appetite for,” Dr. Wheatley had stated. The Premier stated that he is happy to hold the environmental portfolio which is very important to where ‘we are going in the Virgin Islands’ as the green agenda is a big part of the administration’s plan for the next four years.
“If we perceive that there is anything lacking, we can add the resources necessary to make sure that no area is being neglected,” Dr. Wheatley stated.
In addition to the additional permanent secretaries, the junior ministers are also assigned portfolios that fall under the Premier and Minister of Finance. Hon. Luce Hodge Smith is the Junior Minister in the area of Culture and Tourism; and Hon. Karl Dawson is the Junior Minister in the area of Agriculture and Fisheries.
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