PRIME Minister Portia Simpson Miller’s charge to her ministers to hit the ground running has seemingly not fallen on deaf ears as members of the recently appointed administration have already done up their priority lists of things to tackle and are anxious to get behind their desks tomorrow to begin implementation.

The prime minister who heads the 20-member Cabinet said discussions have already begun with potential investors as one of the first orders of business will be a focus on economic growth.

“We have a lot of work to do to ensure we get some investments going and already we have started some discussions with some persons, even before we were elected,” Simpson Miller told the Sunday Observer, immediately following the swearing-in ceremony for ministers and state ministers on Friday.

Simpson Miller said the rolling out of the Jamaica Emergency Employment Plan (JEEP), which the party campaigned on, will happen as soon as her administration is able to identify the funds to get it going.

“We are just coming in so we don’t even know the funds that are available or what is still available in terms of JDIP (Jamaica Development Infrastructure Programme),” Simpson Miller said.

She explained further, “we will be having discussions, and we have started discussions already, with the China Harbour people and we will be meeting with representatives of the Government of China.”

Simpson Miller and members of her team are also expected to meet with the Chinese ambassador for further discussions, which are expected to surround the US$400-million loan to Jamaica for the JDIP.

“I just have this confidence that not long from now we will be attending some functions where we will be dealing with some investments that will create employment for our people and that will assist the growth of the economy,” Simpson Miller said.

Meanwhile, Dr Omar Davies, who has been appointed Minister of Transport, Works & Housing, is expected to have his hands full dealing with JEEP.

Dr Davies said his first order of business will be to properly brief himself on the state of the ministry.

Following this, the areas which will come in for immediate attention, according to Dr Davies, are the JDIP; the Jamaica Urban Transit Company which continues to lose money; and the Port Authority which is earmarked for significant investments.

Dr Davies, who has served for years as finance minister under the previous People’s National Party (PNP) led administration, said he will have no problem serving in his new role.

“I am a worker, so it doesn’t matter where I am assigned; I will work,” he told the Sunday Observer.

Lisa Hanna, who has been made minister of Youth and Culture, said one of her first order of business will be to get an update on where Jamaica is with the plans for Jamaica’s fiftieth Independence celebration.

She said she wanted to look at the financials to determine what is available and to ensure there is a public/private sector partnership.

Hanna said she will also be briefed on all the agencies which fall under youth and culture.

“Since I was shadowing it I have a pretty good idea of what has been happening, but it is now to get a lay of the land and hit the ground running,” Hanna told the Sunday Observer.

Meanwhile, Hanna expressed concerns that there are those who do not recognise that youth and culture are two of the most critical components to move the country forward.

“I have been saying over the years youth makes up the majority of our population and integrates into every other ministry as they are the ones who will be required to repay the debt so everything we do we will have youth at the forefront of our agenda to ensure we create opportunities for them,” she said.

Culture is a pillar, she said, which will be used to boost the creative industries to better the lives of people.

“We have a brand that is like no other, and often we look at it as short term activities to make our young people feel nice, when it really has to become a thrust for the country,” she said.

Hanna, who many speculated would have been given the information minister portfolio said she is “absolutely satisfied” with her assignment.

“I have been humbled by the fact that the prime minister saw me fit to sit in her Cabinet as a young woman, and I will be doing a lot of speaking on behalf of young people and culture in this country. So, not being the minister of information does not mean you will not be hearing from me,” she said.

As for Mark Golding, who has entered the Cabinet as Justice Minister by way of a Senate appointment, his first order of business will be to move forward with a number of reforms.

“I need to understand where they (the ministry) are at in the various things the previous Government was pushing along and having established what the lay of the land is how we can start to implement some of our manifesto promises.

Golding, who had not yet been to his office when the Sunday Observer spoke with him on Friday, said he would be heading there as soon as possible.

“The first order is to get to know what is happening, where Mr Chuck had left it, and what things are there to be done; what are urgent and how we can integrate our priorities into the existing programme and move some of the reforms forward,” he said.

He is also prepared to continue with some of what Chuck did not get a chance to complete, among them the removal of small cases involving ganja possession from the purview of Resident Magistrate Courts to Petty Sessions Court.

“I would like to see that implemented quickly,” he said.

Golding said he also wants to move along some important economic-related legislation which he intends to work closely with his colleague minister in industry, investment and commerce in relation to the Insolvency Act and the Secured Obligations Act, among others.

Golding said it is all a daunting task, but one he is prepared for.

“I have had a long career in private sector, in law and banking, and while I was Opposition Senator I have been able to continue those things,” Golding said, noting that his new assignment represents a major change in his life, and one he intends to give his best shot.

The new face of the Government, minister without portfolio with responsibility for information, Sandrea Falconer, said her communications background has adequately prepared her for the challenging task ahead.

“I have always been a communicator starting from my job as a journalist, so I know the media landscape very well, and I have also worked as a public relations and communications specialist, so I know exactly what to do,” said a confident- sounding Falconer.

“If you are truthful and if you are open, people will trust you, and once there is trust between you and the people I think it makes your job a lot easier,” she said.

As such, Falconer said she plans on having a very open relationship with the media.

“I know there are times I will not be able to tell you everything, but I will tell you as much as I can, and I will make sure I keep you up to date with what has been happening,” she promised.

“Trust is the only way we are going to build a country where there is trustworthiness and where people believe in their government,” she told the Sunday Observer.

In addition to the weekly press briefing at Jamaica House, Falconer said she will also be looking at using new media especially to reach young people to keep them abreast of how government operates.

As a first-timer to the Cabinet, having served as an Opposition Senator, Falconer said she is happy to have received an assignment.

“I am so happy that the prime minister has the confidence that I can take on this job, because it is going to be a tough job,” she said.

Newly appointed Health Minister Dr Fenton Ferguson said his first order of business will be to address the situation regarding the president of the Pharmaceutical Society of Jamaica, Valerie Germaine, who was interdicted under the previous administration after she complained that pharmacy technicians were being used to dispense drugs given the shortage of pharmacists in the public health sector. However, Simpson Miller promised on the campaign trail that her administration would deal with the matter.

On Friday, Ferguson said one of his first priorities will be to properly brief himself on the case which is now with the Public Services Commission.

“I need to be properly briefed but it is a matter I intend to deal with immediately,” he said.

Also high on his priority list is the need to address some of the concerns he raised as shadow minister such as the level of arrears to creditors and suppliers and issues relating to the free health care policy.

Ferguson said he had only just received the briefs from the permanent secretary and would spend the weekend familiarising himself with what is happening in the ministry before meeting with senior members of staff on Monday.

The first time minister, has however served as parliamentary secretary in the education ministry, state minister in agriculture, state minister in transport and works then minister of state in the ministry of transport works water and housing under previous administrations, all of which he said has given him the necessary experience to take on this assignment.

With schools opening their doors for the beginning of the Easter tomorrow, one of the new ministers who will have absolutely no honeymoon time is education minister Ronnie Thwaites.

Thwaites said he plans to give much attention to early childhood education.

“We must learn to do things right the first time. What we are doing is to spend a whole lot of money, billions on remedial education, on catch up, when we ought to ensure that our children going into primary school have achieved readiness both cognitive, nutritional and social, and that is going to be a major emphasis,” he told the Sunday Observer.

The second priority area for the new minister will be to better utilise information technology in the learning, particularly in circumstances where there are inadequate specialised teachers, laboratories and libraries.

“What if we could use the internet television for those purposes it is done effectively elsewhere and it is within our existing resources,” he said.

He also plans on tackling the issue of financing tertiary education and is a firm believer that state funds must be used to promote research and development which is appropriate to national objectives.

“We need to provide loan funds which are affordable through private sector capital for students who need it with the proper provision and precautions that they pay it back,” he said.

Meanwhile, Thwaites also expressed respect and regard for the work that has been going on over the years in education and particular the work of the previous minister, the ministry staff and teaching profession.

Just weeks into the Winter Tourist Season, new tourism minister Dr Wykeham McNeil is rearing to begin his new assignment. Dr McNeil said he would be meeting as of Friday with head of agencies offsite even before he shows up at his desk on Monday.

As the shadow minister for tourism, McNeil said he has kept very close contact with the industry and already has an idea of some of what is happening.

“But I now need to hear from the permanent secretaries and the heads of agencies exactly what are the pressing issues, then next week I will move in to determine the way forward,” he said.

With the marketing of the destination for the season in the hands of the Jamaica Tourist Board, McNeil will be giving priority attention to some issues of policy.

“We have some things we need to look at such as the timeshare legislation that need to be addressed to sort of open up our potential,” he said.

He explained further that now that the ministry has been combined with entertainment he will be seeking to address some of the synergies that can be created between entertainment and tourism.

And the Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association which had been lobbying the previous government not to merge the Tourism Enhancement fund with the tourism Product Development company will now have their wish, as this is a stance which was also being pushed by McNeil in his role as shadow minister.

On Friday, McNeil said the two entities will remain separate.

“One thing I am very clear about is the issues of governance it is just not what you do but how you do it. We have a TEF which has a mandate which funds the industry and we have a TPDCO… and it is good to have one monitoring the other and I felt all along that those bodies should remain separate,” he said, reiterating that he is committed to seeing that it remains that way.

In the meantime, Robert Pickersgill, who has been given responsibility for the super ministry of Water, Land, Environment & Climate Change said although climate change is unfamiliar territory he is already preparing himself to tackle this very important issue.

“Jamaicans are not sensitised to it and on an annual basis weather related conditions cause this country millions and it is because of how we have been treating the environment,” Pickersgill said, adding that he has begun reading up on it.

As for the other ministry responsibilities, Pickersgill said two dominant complaints on the campaign trail have been roads and water.

“I have to inform myself on the now position regarding water, but if I were to use my constituency I know it is a serious issue which needs to be addressed immediately,” he said.