No permanent positions yet for COVID-19 Secretariat
Apr 29, 2020 , Source - Kaieteur News Online, https://www.kaieteurnewsonline...ovid-19-secretariat/
The Executive Secretariat of the National Coronavirus (COVID-19) Task Force, headed by newly appointed Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Joseph Harmon, has to date outlined no permanent positions for new additions, Colonel (ret’d) Lawrence Paul and Mark Archer.
CEO of the National COVID-19 Task Force, Joseph Harmon
Mark Archer
In fact, the Secretariat is now looking to source the requisite staff possessing the technical expertise needed for the Task Force.
This information was relayed to Kaieteur News by Archer, former Director of Public Information and Press Service (PIPS) Unit at the Ministry of the Presidency, who was asked about his new appointment to the Task Force.
A release from the Office of the President recently made the announcement of Harmon’s appointment as CEO of the Task Force, with Paul and Archer on the list, but no mention was made about the specific roles they would play.
But, according to Archer, during a telephone interview with this publication, he and Paul are currently working along closely with the CEO to identify people who can staff a permanent secretariat.
According to him, the list with the staffers, their designations and specific roles will be communicated to the public when this process is complete.
Questions were raised after the President’s announcement as to the duties of Harmon, who served as the Director General of the Ministry of the Presidency as opposed to the Chair of the NCTF, Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo.
Granger clarified that Nagamootoo will still hold his position as Chair, while Harmon will be responsible for the daily operations of the Task Force. Among those duties would be the dissemination of relevant information relating to the pandemic, a task currently shared between the Minister of Health, Volda Lawrence and Nagamootoo.
Further, he pointed out that the CEO, under the general or specific directions of the Chairman of the NCTF, is tasked with establishing a permanent National Task Force Secretariat; assign permanent staff to manage the national campaign; create preventive measures against the disease, and collaborate with task forces established across the ten administrative regions as well as other stakeholders.
Archer told this paper that while the new operations are being established, the original NCTF established on March 12 still remains intact. It includes Minister of Public Health, Volda Lawrence; Minister of Education, Dr. Nicolette Henry; Minister of Communities, Ronald Bulkan; Minister of Public Security, Khemraj Ramjattan; Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Basil Williams SC; Minister of Public Infrastructure, David Patterson; Minister of Finance, Winston Jordan and Minister of Citizenship, Winston Felix.