President David Granger has placed Director General of the Ministry of the Presidency Joseph Harmon as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the National Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Task Force (NCTF) as part of a restructuring to strengthen the body.
The NCTF was set up in March to coordinate government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In a statement, the Ministry of the Presidency yesterday said that according to Granger’s direction, Harmon, under the general or specific directions of the Chairman of the NCTF (Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo) is to establish a permanent National Task Force Secretariat; assign permanent staff to manage the national campaign; create preventive measures against the disease to safeguard citizens’ health and collaborate with regional task forces and stakeholders to safeguard citizens’ health.
“The CEO is responsible, under the direction of the Chair, for directing the NCTF operations and restarting interrupted activities; all important logistics measures necessary to prevent the disease from spreading further, directing rapid responses to unexpected and emergency incidents; developing short-term plans for disease prevention and safety of the people and communicating directly with agencies, ministries, regional task forces, agencies and stakeholders,” it further said, while also noting that the CEO is also responsible also for disseminating accurate information with regard to COVID-19 to the public.
It is unclear what the scope of Nagamootoo’s responsibilities is given the raft of responsibilities with which Harmon has been tasked.
In addition, Granger also announced that Colonel (ret’d) Lawrence Paul, Senior Executive Director of the Bertram Collins College of the Public Service, has been seconded to the NCTF. As a result, Dr Mark Kirton will assume the post previously held by Colonel Paul at the College.
Further, the statement said Mark Archer, Director of the Public Infor-mation and Press Service (PIPS) Unit of the Ministry of the Presidency, has relinquished his appointment and will work with the NCTF on a full-time basis. Ariana Gordon will assume the post of Director of the PIPS Unit effective from today.
“The Head of State iterated that efforts are being made continuously to strengthen the NCTF to the fight against the dreaded COVID-19. He assured that the Task Force and the Ministry of Public Health are working assiduously to overcome the challenges posed by COVID-19,” the statement added.
