As promised, Prime Minister Perry Christie announced the second and final set of cabinet ministers who will make up his new administration, all of whom took the oath of office at Government House Friday afternoon.

The newly formed government will convene its first full cabinet meeting on Tuesday.

It is a near carbon copy of the 2002 Christie administration, as a number of senior PLP members resumed their previous portfolios.

Fred Mitchell returns as minister of foreign affairs and immigration and V. Alfred Gray as the minister of agriculture, marine resources and local government.

Shane Gibson returns as minister of labour and national insurance while Glenys Hanna-Martin and Melanie Griffin both return as ministers of transport and aviation and social services respectively.

Former Senator Dr. Michael Darville takes on the newly created post as minister of Grand Bahama, specifically designed to handle the affairs of the nation’s second city.

Also appointed to Mr. Christie’s cabinet are newcomers Dr. Perry Gomez, who will serve as minister of health, Kendred Dorsett as the minister of the environment and housing and Dr. Daniel Johnson as the new minister of youth, sports and culture.

Former Senator Hope Strachan and Khaalis Rolle will both serve as junior ministers, as Mrs. Strachan takes up the post as minister of state in the ministry of transport and aviation while Mr. Rolle as minister of state for investments in the Office of the Prime Minister.

“We now set about the urgent business of steering our nation in a new direction,” Mr. Christie said.

“We do so in order that good jobs and entrepreneurial opportunities for Bahamians can be created and so that peace and tranquillity can be restored to our streets and our communities.”

Among those notably missing from the list of appointments are Tall Pines MP elect Leslie Miller and Fort Charlotte MP elect Dr. Andre Rollins.

With the final group of 11 ministers now sworn in, it brings Mr. Christie’s cabinet total to 21.

“Under ordinary circumstances I would have selected a smaller cabinet but the quite extraordinary and multi-faceted challenges facing our country today have impelled me to put together a cabinet that would enable us to tackle these challenges simultaneously on as many different fronts as possible,” he said.

He noted however that his cabinet is the same size as the Free National Movement’s (FNM) administration led by former Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham.

But Mr. Christie indicated that he would make mid-term ministerial adjustments with a view to including some government backbenchers not included in the first round of selections.

It’s a part of his commitment, he said, to ensure the promotion of a ‘new generation’ of candidates to a dominant position in his government during the course of this present term.

Prime Minister Christie also revealed that during the opening of parliament on the May 23rd, Dr. Kendal Major will be elected speaker of the House of Assembly and Nassau Village MP elect Dion Smith, as deputy speaker.
The prime minister also announced that Members of Parliament elect for Exuma Anthony Moss, South Beach Cleola Hamilton and Bamboo Town Renward Wells have all been appointed Parliamentary Secretaries.

They trio will serve in the Ministries of Agriculture and Marine Resources, Foreign Affairs and Immigration and Works and Urban Development.

They will be sworn in at a separate ceremony at Government House this morning.

Arnold Forbes, Mount Moriah’s MP elect will assume the position as executive chairman of the Bahamas Agricultural and Industrial Corporation (BAIC) and also as an ambassador with special focus on trade.

More appointments are expected over the next several days.