Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07BRIDGETOWN1372
2007-10-30 18:18:00
CONFIDENTIAL//NOFORN
Embassy Bridgetown
Cable title:  

DOMINICAN CABINET RESHUFFLE TO INCREASE EFFICIENCY

Tags:  PGOV PREL ENGR EPET XL DO 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXYZ0011
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHWN #1372/01 3031818
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 301818Z OCT 07
FM AMEMBASSY BRIDGETOWN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 5698
INFO RUCNCOM/EC CARICOM COLLECTIVE
RUEHCV/AMEMBASSY CARACAS 1815
RUMIAAA/HQ USSOUTHCOM J2 MIAMI FL
RUMIAAA/HQ USSOUTHCOM J5 MIAMI FL
RUEHCV/USDAO CARACAS VE
C O N F I D E N T I A L BRIDGETOWN 001372 

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

SOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD
DEPT FOR WHA/EPSC-CORNEILLE
DEPT FOR EEB/ESC/IEC-IZZO

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/26/2017
TAGS: PGOV PREL ENGR EPET XL DO
SUBJECT: DOMINICAN CABINET RESHUFFLE TO INCREASE EFFICIENCY


Classified By: DCM Anthony Fisher for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).

C O N F I D E N T I A L BRIDGETOWN 001372

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

SOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD
DEPT FOR WHA/EPSC-CORNEILLE
DEPT FOR EEB/ESC/IEC-IZZO

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/26/2017
TAGS: PGOV PREL ENGR EPET XL DO
SUBJECT: DOMINICAN CABINET RESHUFFLE TO INCREASE EFFICIENCY


Classified By: DCM Anthony Fisher for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).


1. (C) SUMMARY: Dominica Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit
reshuffled his cabinet October 16, taking the Foreign
Minister portfolio himself and shifting previous Foreign
Minister Charles Savarin to Public Utilities and Energy.
According to one official, this will separate Housing from
Public Utilities, both major priorities for the Skerrit
administration, allowing both to receive full-time attention.
To assist with foreign affairs, Skerrit appointed a
Parliamentary Secretary in his office and assigned the new
Minister of Trade to also tackle regional and diaspora
affairs. Because of this shift, focusing on energy
partnerships might be the most successful inroad for
strengthening relations with Dominica. END SUMMARY.


2. (U) On October 16, Dominica Prime Minister Roosevelt
Skerrit reshuffled his cabinet to place more emphasis on
housing, reducing the cost of living, and creating new jobs.
The resignation of Tourism Minister Yvor Nassief a month
previous was one of the catalysts for the reshuffle. Nassief
resigned because he had contracted with the government to
serve for only two years at a salary of ECD 1 (USD 0.37) a
year and, following this term, chose to return to his family
business.


3. (U) One significant change was Skerrit keeping the Foreign
Minister portfolio for himself. According to Steve Ferrol,
Permanent Secretary for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Skerrit so
deeply involved himself with foreign policy that officially
taking on the portfolio was not a stretch. To assist with
foreign affairs, Skerrit appointed Peter St. Jean as
Parliamentary Secretary under him and also appointed the new
Minister of Trade, Colin McIntyre, as Minister of Caribbean
Community (CARICOM),the Organization of Eastern Caribbean
States (OECS),and Diaspora Affairs. According to Skerrit,
this is to send a clear message that Dominica is serious
about CARICOM and the OECS.


4. (SBU) Former Foreign Minister Senator Charles Savarin is

now Minister of Public Utilities and Energy. In the previous
cabinet, the Minister of Public Utilities was also Minister
of Housing, portfolios that proved too important to cram
under one minister. According to Ferrol, disputes with the
sole electricity provider Dominica Electric, the development
of new energy policy, participation in Petrocaribe, the
construction of fuel storage tanks, and the planning of a
potential oil refinery took too much time away from work on
crucial housing projects. Even as Foreign Minister, Savarin
commonly advocated for energy policy and foreign investment
in the energy sector.


5. (U) The new cabinet is as follows:

-- Roosevelt Skerrit: Prime Minister and Minister of
Finance, Social Security, and Foreign Affairs

-- Ian Douglas: Minister of Tourism, Legal Affairs, and
Civil Aviation

-- Reginald Austrie: Minister of Housing, Lands, and
Telecommunications

-- Vince Henderson: Minister of Education, Human Resource
Development, Youth Affairs, and Sports

-- Senator Charles Savarin: Minister of Public Utilities,
Energy, Ports, and the Public Service

-- John Fabien: Minister of Health and Environment

-- Matthew Walter: Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries, and
Forestry

-- Ambrose George: Minister of Public Works and
Infrastructural Development

-- Francine Baron-Royer: Attorney General (Note: She is the
first female AG in Dominica.)

-- Lorraine Bannis-Roberts: Minister of Community
Development, Culture and Gender Affairs, and Information

-- Senator Colin McIntyre: Minister of Trade, Industry,
Consumer Affairs, Private Sector Relations, CARICOM, OECS,
and Diaspora Affairs

-- Kelly Graneau: Minister of Carib Affairs

-- Rayburn Blackmore: Minister of National Security,
Immigration, and Labour

-- Julius Timothy: Minister of Economic Development and
Urban Renewal

-- Urban Baron: Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry of
Public Works

-- Senator Peter St. Jean: Parliamentary Secretary in the
Office of the Prime Minister with responsibility for foreign
affairs

-- Senator Ian Pinard: Parliamentary Secretary in the
Ministry of Education, Human Resource Development, Youth
Affairs, and Sports


6. (C) COMMENT: Savarin is a friend to the United States who
will be missed as foreign minister. Although educated in the
United States, Skerrit seems somewhat ambivalent to
Dominica's relationship with the United States, cultivating
relationships with countries willing to pump capital projects
and foreign assistance into Dominica, such as China and
Venezuela. Given Savarin's historic friendship with the
United States and his new role over energy policy, assisting
with private investment or public assistance in the energy
sector is a potentially successful inroad into strengthening
relations with Dominica.
OURISMAN