Georgetown: Former Speaker of the House, Raphael Trotman has taken up the responsibilities for the Ministry of Natural Resources.
According to the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment, Trotman, a lawyer by profession, has started occupying the Upper Brickdam offices, located in the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission.
He was recently sworn in as the Minister of Governance within the Ministry of the Presidency, taking up that appointment earlier in the week.
According to the statement from the Ministry, Trotman has already met with the staff of his Ministry as part of the familiarization process, visiting several of the agencies that fall under his portfolio.
“During the coming weeks, the Minister also intends to meet with international, donor, private sector organizations, other development partners and stakeholders of the governance and natural resources sectors.”
Among some of his earlier duties are observing World Environment Day to be celebrated on June 5.
“… it is expected that the Minister will be out and about supporting the efforts at restoring the image of Georgetown our “Garden City” and that of communities outside of the city,” the Ministry said.
The Natural Resources sector is one of the most critical areas for the new David Granger administration.
It covers logging and mining and the all important emerging oil industry.
The Ministry would take on even more importance with the recent announcement by US-owned ExxonMobil, that it has found significant evidence of oil during exploration of a well drilled offshore Guyana.
There have also been accusations of mismanagement and corruption within the logging and mining sectors to especially Chinese companies.
The new coalition Government, in Opposition during the last Parliament, had vowed to examine a number of deals and streamline the Natural Resources Ministry.
Several Ministers were sworn in last week but no Minister named for the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment until yesterday.
Trotman, 49, was a former executive member of the People’s National Congress Reform, who co-founded the Alliance For Change (AFC) in 2005 along with Khemraj Ramjattan and Sheila Holder.
Both parties have joined up with the coalition A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) for the May 11 elections, winning it by a slim margin.
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