Gov’t appoints eight new Permanent Secretaries

The Office of the President on Thursday announced the appointment of eight Permanent Secretaries within several Government Ministries.
The new appointees are Malcolm Watkins (Ministry of Health), Sharon Hicks (Ministry of Amerindian Affairs), Mae Toussaint Jr. Thomas (Ministry of Home Affairs), Vladim Persaud (Ministry of Public Works), Shannielle E. Hoosein-Outar (Ministry of Human Services and Social Security), Andre Ally (Ministry of Housing and Water), Bishram Kuppen (Ministry of Labour) and Sharon Roopchand-Edwards (Ministry of Tourism, Industry and Commerce).

The Office of the President, in a statement, said that Watkins who served as Procurement Manager at the Ministry of Health, is the holder of a Master of Organizational Leadership from Southern New Hampshire University. He is a Certified Supply Chain Professional.

Hicks, holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Accountancy and a Certificate in Developmental Phycology. She previously held the position of Management Development Officer at the Ministry of Amerindian Affairs, and Auditor and Internal Affairs Investigator at the GRA.

Thomas holds a Diploma in Accountancy from the University of Guyana and a Certificate in Project Management. Ms Thomas previously served as the Assistant Account at the Office of the President.

Persaud holds a BSc in Economics, a Graduate Diploma in Development Studies, and a Master of Public Administration from the University of Guyana and is currently pursuing an International Master of Business Administration at the Arthur Lok Jack Graduate School of Business. He previously served at the Guyana National Bureau of Standards as the Head of the Finance Department and earlier at the Ministry of Finance as an Economic and Financial Analyst II, in the Budget, Fiscal and Monetary Division.
Hoosein-Outar –Ms Hoosein-Outar holds a BSc in Business Management and a Post Graduate Diploma in International Relations from the University of Guyana. She previously served at the Development Manager at Massy Guyana Ltd.

Ally holds a Master of Business Administration from the Australian Institute of Business and several professional IT Certificates. He served at the CH&PA as the Head of ICT from 2008 to 2017 and at Ansa McAl, as the Country Manager and later its Regional Manager.

Kuppen is a former two-term elected Councillor of the Georgetown City Council who previously served as a Corporate Management Officer at an international company abroad for many years and a Commissioned Officer of the Guyana Defence Force.

Roopchand-Edwards is an Economist by training and previously held the position of Principal Academic Engagement Officer within the Office of the Deputy Vice-Chancellor, at the University of Guyana. She previously taught out of the Department of Economics, University of Guyana and also served as a Director on the Board of the Bank of Guyana and a member of its Audit Committee. Roopchand-Edwards also served on a number of other Boards and Committees including the Competition and Consumer Affairs Commission (CCAC) among others.