Parliamentarian Floyd Green, who is making a comeback as minister without portfolio in the Office of the Prime Minister after a hasty resignation from the Cabinet four months ago, has described as “humbling” the appointment which, he said, is an opportunity for redemption.

Green was one of three ministers sworn in by Governor General Sir Patrick Allen at King’s House in St Andrew on Tuesday following the announcement by Prime Minister Andrew Holness late Monday evening of a Cabinet shuffle.

The former agriculture minister, who is a two-term Member of Parliament, had resigned last September amidst public furore when a video surfaced of him and several other people in clear breach of COVID-19 protocols under the Disaster Risk Management Act at a social gathering on a no-movement day.

Speaking with the Jamaica Observer after Tuesday’s ceremony, Green said, “I feel grateful because I have been given another opportunity to serve at this level. I think it is a real honour and a humbling experience… to be a part of the discussions that help determine the future of the country and especially at this time, so I am very grateful. I’ve wanted to get an opportunity like this, and having been detached for a while I am happy to get the opportunity again. So, I am grateful and humbled by the confidence the prime minister has placed in me to give me another opportunity at this level.”

Green, who Prime Minister Andrew Holness said would, among other things, be chiefly responsible for Jamaica’s national identification system (NIDS) , addressed criticism from some who felt he had been brought back to the Cabinet too soon.

“I have always appreciated that there would be divergent views. I did say from the get-go that I know a number of people would have been tremendously disappointed and I think what I will have to do is work doubly as hard to try and regain their regard, their trust and their confidence and to create a positive impact,” he told the Observer.

“I take the good with the bad. I take the support and I take the criticisms and one of the things I have always prided myself on is taking responsibility, and so very early in this episode I took responsibility and I know that what would be required now is to work even harder,” he said.

In the meantime, he said his past appointments within various ministries have helped to prepare him for the new assignment which, he believes, will create a watershed moment in Jamaica’s development.

“I am excited about NIDS. There will be other areas [of responsibility], but outside of that I genuinely believe that NIDS is the centre of our drive to create a digital society. I think COVID-19 has shown us that we have a lot to do to ensure that we become a digital society and I think a lot more people are appreciating the need for the transformation, and that starts by being able to identify your citizens,” Green stated.

“I think it is a significant engagement. It is something as a country we have been trying to get done for decades and we haven’t moved it forward, so clearly my responsibility will be to champion that, to get it done and ensure that it’s done in a way that inspires trust and confidence across the country and to see how quickly we can make up lost ground in terms of getting that unique identifier into the hands of Jamaicans so we can get rid of multiple IDs,” he said.

“There is a lot of work that needs to be done, but if you think about something that is exciting, transformational, game-changing in our 60th year, definitely this is it,” Green said while expressing gratitude for the encouragement received from Jamaicans and his constituents in particular during his time on the back bench.

— Alicia Dunkley-Willis