Prime Minister Bruce Golding yesterday defended his 18-man Cabinet, saying that it was relevant to address the challenges facing the country now. At the same time, Golding, signaling that he expected his ministers not to waste time, instructed them to report to work at 3:00 pm yesterday after allowing them a short lunch break with their families following a colourful and entertaining swearing-in ceremony on the east lawns of King’s House.

“I am sure that most, if not all of you have members of your family here with you, because this must be a special occasion for you and for them and, therefore, I will allow you to go and have lunch with your family, after you have met with me. But, be at your desks by three o’clock,” Golding told the ministers.

He said that he had met Thursday with all permanent secretaries and that they have all prepared the necessary briefs for the ministers. “There is going to be a lot of reading material for you over the weekend,” the prime minister told his executive. “I have asked the permanent secretaries, and they stand ready to brief you on matters that may be urgent. Indeed, there have been some matters that have been so urgent that they have had to brief me even prior to the appointment of the ministers themselves.

“There are matters which may require urgent decisions and, therefore, I want all ministers to have themselves properly briefed by the permanent secretaries this afternoon.”

He reminded them of the motto of one of the high schools he attended, Jamaica College, “fervet opus in campis”, which, translated to English, means “work is burning in the field”.

“Let’s go and do the people’s work that awaits us,” he said, to loud applause.

Earlier, in his address, after the 18 ministers were sworn-in by Governor General Kenneth Hall, Golding addressed criticisms about the size of the Cabinet, since he announced it on Wednesday.

“The Cabinet that I have chosen has been very carefully structured and, in my judgment, it is what is necessary, it is what is appropriate for the challenges that face us at this time,” Golding said.

He admitted that there was an increase of one ministry over the 14 maintained by his predecessor, Portia Simpson Miller.

However, he said that the issue of size was relative, and proceeded to compare his with Cabinets in other Caribbean countries.

“An 18-member Cabinet does not necessarily signify big government,” he said. “I am mindful of the enormous expectations that exist about the Government that I lead. I am very, very aware of the specific commitments that we made to the people of Jamaica that we are determined to fulfil.”

However, he said that, in his judgment, there was a need to ensure that there is adequate policy direction, in order to ensure that the Government focusses on the variety of tasks that it needs to fulfil in order to make good on the commitments.

Golding also noted that he had decided against super ministries such as the last government’s Ministry of Housing, Transport, Water and Works, by splitting that ministry in two.

“I believe when a ministry is overloaded and the minister is overloaded, some things fall through the cracks,” he said.

He said that the closest to a super ministry was his own Office of the Prime Minister (OPM).

He explained that he had taken on planning and development, previously assigned to other ministries, because of their critical nature.

“The business of planning, the business of facilitating development, of driving all the processes that are involved, is so critical to the future of this country that I felt that it needed the authority of the prime minister,” he said.

Golding is to name his team of junior ministers today and they will be sworn in on Monday followed by the first formal meeting of the Cabinet set for 11:00 am.