Former Foreign Affairs Minister, Carl Greenidge, who was forced to step down because of his dual citizenship will remain at that ministry, President David Granger said yesterday before noting that while all the details have not yet been finalised, a key role in the ongoing border controversy with Venezuela and Guyana’s economic relations with other countries are on the cards.
Granger announced the appointment of Dr. Karen Cummings, the then Minister within the Ministry of Public Health as Greenidge’s replacement days after several other new ministers were named. This delay had cause observers to question whether Granger was looking to appoint Greenidge, who sat at the helm of the ministry since the APNU+AFC coalition government took office in May 2015, in a prominent position in that ministry. From the inception, he had indicated that he expected Greenidge and the three other dual citizen ministers, who also resigned, to stay on and serve government in other capacities. One of them, the former Minister of State Joseph Harmon is now the Director General of the Ministry of the Presidency.
When asked by Stabroek News shortly after swearing in two new members of the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) whether a final decision has been made on the retention of Greenidge, Granger said that he will remain at the Foreign Affairs Ministry, while noting that he has had several meetings with him as well as with Minister Cummings.
