(Trinidad Guardian) Former Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi says he is accepting his new role as Minister of Local Government and Rural Development with “great excitement and pleasure.”
Al-Rawi was replaced as Attorney General by Reginal Armour in a Cabinet reshuffle yesterday.
He said this new ministry is one that “literally touches the lives of every citizen of Trinidad and Tobago in the places that they live, work, traverse and enjoy.”
“I have been assigned the tremendous responsibility of driving one of the major planks of Government focus by ensuring the delivery of meaningful Local Government reform to ensure the betterment of the lives of the people of our nation,” Al-Rawi said.
He said that the efficient delivery of goods and services “directly to the all the people of our beloved country is my highest priority and is the stated vision of our Government.”
“In my mind, there is no more important task – especially whilst we recover from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic that wreaked havoc globally and in our country at every level of our society,” he said.
Al-Rawi spoke to the condition of roads and drainage in the country, saying the quality of those deliverables had a big impact on society.
“The mission of Local Government reform was a major pillar of the 2015 undertakings by this Government and I am charged with the privilege of getting the job done,” he said.
He thanked the Prime Minister for his stint as AG and said he would bring that level of transformation to his new post.
Al-Rawi’s Full Statement:
“It is with a great excitement and pleasure that I today accepted the role of Minister of Rural Development and Local Government, which is a Ministry that literally touches the lives of every citizen of Trinidad and Tobago in the places that they live, work, traverse and enjoy.
I have been assigned the tremendous responsibility of driving one of the major planks of Government focus by ensuring the delivery of meaningful local Government reform to ensure the betterment of the lives of the people of our Nation.
The efficient delivery of goods and services directly to the all the people of our beloved country is my highest priority and is the stated vision of our Government.
In my mind there is no more important task – especially whilst we recover from the effects of the Covid 19 pandemic that wreaked havoc globally and in our country at every level of our society. Every one of us is painfully aware that the condition of our roads, drains and infrastructure including the management of lands, open spaces, play parks, recreational spaces, markets, and public services bear greatest impact upon the quality of our lives.
Ensuring the efficiency and reform of the fourteen municipal corporations in Trinidad and of the impactful delivery of meaningful services by the Ministry in our nation will redound to the benefit of us all right where it matters most.
The mission of local Government reform was a major pillar of the 2015 undertakings by this Government and I am charged with the privilege of getting the job done.
I wish to thank the Honourable Prime Minister for allowing me the privilege to lead the radical reforms in the Office of the Attomey General and Ministry of Legal Affairs that has witnessed among several things, the transformation of the entire judicial system, the anchoring of the digitization of all services at the AGLA which have formed the precedent for the Government digital transformation.
In my time in service as the Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs I have had the honour to pass hundreds of primary and secondary laws and have championed the significant improvement of many processes through delivery of plant and machinery and people in careful alignment with the law. Importantly we have also secured Trinidad and Tobago’s reclamation of prominent position in the global arena and I wish to express my profound gratitude to the many amazing people at the AGLA and the many entities that fall under the portfolio of the Office for the outstanding work and dedication over the last seven years.
I am elated to deliver that assigned to me in the only way that I know – which is by success through hard work and enterprise, with all hands on deck. The transformation that I achieved at the AGLA which many believed impossible is testimony to my faith that I can bring meaningful relief and happiness to Trinidad and Tobago.”
