Kamla Persad-Bissessar Reshuffles Cabinet, Expanding Saddam Hosein’s Ministerial Responsibilities

Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar has shifted four skills and vocational training agencies from Tertiary Education and Skills Training Minister Prakash Persad to Sport and Youth Affairs Minister Phillip Watts, effective October 1. The National Energy Skills Centre, TTHTI, MIC Government Vocational Centre and YTEPP will now fall under Watts, affecting key training programmes tied to jobs and skills development.

Prime Minister’s Cabinet realignment is being framed as a move to improve government efficiency, with political scientist Professor Hamid Ghany saying portfolios were adjusted to better match ministries’ duties and responsibilities. He said the changes, including moving the Agricultural Development Bank to the Ministry of Finance, may help ministers and technocrats coordinate more effectively ahead of the budget.

Opposition Leader Pennelope Beckles and PNM MP Stuart Young criticised Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar’s Cabinet realignment, saying it was done quietly and may reflect internal UNC power struggles rather than the national interest. They raised concerns about key programmes and state lands being shifted among ministers, warning the changes could affect delivery and patronage in Trinidad and Tobago.

Political analyst Prof Hamid Ghany said Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar’s latest move is a realignment of duties, not a Cabinet reshuffle, because Ministers remain in their posts while responsibilities are shifted among ministries. He said the changes, made before the October 12 budget, will affect spending scrutiny, parliamentary questions and how ministers are held accountable.

The Prime Minister’s reassignment of ministerial duties has drawn mixed reactions, with former ministers calling it a routine portfolio adjustment and others seeing a sign of shifting government priorities. Kevin Ramnarine said it was not a demotion, while Karen Nunez-Tesheira said it could be read as one and may reflect focus on housing, agriculture and jobs programmes. Barry Padarath welcomed added responsibility for the OJT programme.

Minister Saddam Hosein said the latest Cabinet realignment will help speed up land regularisation and State land development by combining related responsibilities under his ministry. He said his ministry has already delivered long-delayed results, including more than 800 leases for ex-Caroni workers and over 250 Certificates of Comfort. Public Utilities Minister Barry Padarath also welcomed added responsibility for the OJT programme, saying it will support youth development and improve government efficiency.

Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar says she is confident Minister Saddam Hosein can handle his expanded duties after a Cabinet reshuffle that moved more land-related functions to his ministry. She said the changes, including putting the Agricultural Development Bank under Finance and immigrant detention under Homeland Security, are meant to improve efficiency, cut costs and reduce bureaucracy.

Opposition Leader Penelope Beckles questioned whether the Prime Minister’s Cabinet reshuffle was driven by internal UNC power struggles rather than the national interest. She criticised the expanded role given to Saddam Hosein and the transfer of the On-the-Job Training Programme, warning that the changes could be politically motivated and harm young people.

Tertiary Education Minister Prakash Persad said he was unbothered after the On-the-Job Training Programme was shifted to Public Utilities Minister Barry Padarath under a Cabinet realignment. Separately, Minister Nicholas Morris called the Opposition’s collapsed water-supply motion in Parliament embarrassing, saying Speaker Jagdeo Singh acted properly because the motion was not formally moved.

Political analysts Dr Bishnu Ragoonath and Dr Shane Mohammed said the Prime Minister’s Cabinet realignment mainly shifts policy oversight, not the day-to-day work, which is still handled by public officers. They said giving Land and Legal Affairs Minister Saddam Hosein more responsibilities could help connect related policy areas and improve government services.

Government Gazettes in 2025 and 2026 set out major transfers of portfolios and state agencies among ministries, reshaping who oversees land, housing, social programmes, energy, defence and security functions. The changes shifted responsibilities such as OJT, disaster management, illegal immigrant and deportee matters, and several housing and land agencies, affecting how key public services are run.

Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar has widened and shifted several Cabinet responsibilities, saying the changes are meant to boost efficiency and cut costs. Land and Legal Affairs Minister Saddam Hosein gained major housing and state-enterprise duties, while Agriculture Minister Ravi Ratiram and others lost some portfolios in a broad realignment across government.

Patriotic Front leader Mickela Panday has questioned the government’s latest ministerial changes, calling them a “Cabinet realignment” and asking whether experience and performance guided the decisions. The Sept. 30 moves shifted oversight of housing programmes, state entities, disaster management, illegal immigrants and other responsibilities among several ministers, including Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar.

Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar has reshuffled Cabinet responsibilities, shifting housing, state-enterprise, security and disaster-management duties among ministers effective September 30. Saddam Hosein takes on expanded housing and state-enterprise roles, while Wayne Sturge gets disaster management and Roger Alexander now handles illegal immigrants and deportees. The move also reassigns several agriculture, health and training portfolios.

The government has reshuffled several ministerial responsibilities, moving the On-the-Job Training Programme to Public Utilities Minister Barry Padarath and transferring other housing, agriculture and state enterprise portfolios among ministers. Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar has also given up oversight of some housing-related programmes. The changes affect key services, including housing support, disaster management and the Agricultural Development Bank.