Basseterre, St. Kitts, June 16th 2020 (ZIZ News)
By: Chaïra Flanders
Hon. Jonel Powell has already stepped into his new role as the new Minister of Education Youth Sports and Culture, just three days after being sworn in as the youngest Minister of government in St. Kitts and Nevis.
Minister Powell attended his first Senior Leadership meeting on the morning of Wednesday June 17.
While addressing senior officials from the various departments in the Ministry, Minister Powell said he is grateful that he has been given the opportunity to serve as the minister and looks forward to working with the team to ensure goals and objectives are met.
“Obviously I have my own perspectives and thoughts from the outside looking in but in my new capacity I have to rely on all of you in particular as the senior leadership to guide and to educate me. You have that institutional knowledge, experience in terms of what is happening and how things actually work and so I look forward to working together with each and everyone of you”, he said.
The new Youth Minister then expressed that this new journey in his career is a challenge that he is ready to handle.
“This I expect to be a new challenge for me but one that I am looking forward to tackling head on. It has always been my nature to address things head on and to just jump in the deep end and hit the ground running and so I don’t expect any disruptions but just for us to band together as a team and move forward in the best interest of all three disciplines”, Powell stated.
Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Youth Sports and Culture, Darryl Lloyd who chaired the meeting said “This ministry will unearth all other ministries because young people are our future”.
The Ministry comprises three departments with a total of 48 persons.
He said despite challenges faced, the ministry will continue to push ahead and look at the way forward.
The Senior Leadership meetings are held on the third Wednesday of each month