On Tuesday the 15th of July at 10:15 a.m the staff of the Ministry of Finance in the Financial complex welcomed their new Minister - Hon. Nazim Burke and Hon. Michael Church who is Minister of State in the same Ministry. The ceremony commenced with a prayer by Rev. Tessica Hackshaw from the Methodist Church. It was questioned why Rev.Tessica Hackshaw blessed the office of Hon. Burke. His response was that he is a Methodist and worships in his church on Sundays. He said that he was asked by Rev. to bless his office as a new beginning and to wish them all the best.
Present at the press conference were both Hon. Min. Nazim Burke, Hon. Min Michael Church along with the two Permanent Secretaries Mr. Timothy Antoine and Mr. Mike Sylvester along with members of the media.
Hon. Burke spoke first, saying that he was truly comfortable with the responsibility given to him by Prime Minister the Hon. Tillman Thomas, to take charge of the Ministry of Finance. He also stated that he looked forward to be working with the members of staff, who are willing and very competent.
Hon. Michael Church said that he was confident that they will succeed. He cheered, "let's go forward with the true Grenadian spirit".
When the new Ministers were asked what will be the first task they will undertake, the response was that it is too soon to say what they will be tackling first. However, they will be briefing/liaising with the staff about the country's finance along with projects being undertaken and those in progress. Their main focus was to get the full briefing on the state of the economy, hence the public will be informed later.
The Ministers were asked about the disbursement of the school books which they spoke about on the Party's platform. There were concerns by some that students will not be able to get these books for this school term. However, Hon. Nazim Burke said that some students will be able to receive the said promised school books. He also stated that the Prime Minister will make an official announcement later in the week but they already have a task force set up along with outside help to deal with this matter.
When I asked how long the transition period will take for them to settle into office and be on top of things, Mr. Burke responded that he cannot give a specific time frame for this but that they have a very competent staff and that time will tell.
