The Tribune

By RASHAD ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

rrolle@tribunemedia.net

CABINET has yet to take a formal position on the proposed Office of the Spouse, Press Secretary Anthony Newbold said yesterday.

Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis' wife, Patricia Minnis, promoted the idea as a way to address women's issues in the country.

Mr Newbold declined to reveal Dr Minnis' personal view on the matter, saying he "can only have formal positions."

His statement came after he revealed that Mrs Minnis will attend a meeting of the Spouses of the Caribbean Leaders Action Network (SCLAN) next week when she travels with a Bahamian delegation to a CARICOM intercessional meeting in Haiti.

"No formal position is adopted on that as yet," Mr Newbold said. "There was a paper that was being prepared on that but there's no formal position on that as yet. It's one of those matters that whenever it's decided it's something we need to focus on, that's what will happen. It's not a matter at this moment that you have to have a Cabinet meeting to decide if we will have an Office of the Spouse. In the meantime, Mrs Minnis has always been very active in the community certainly in her community of Killarney, has been working with the young ladies down there, been doing it for years. Whether or not there is a formal Office of the Spouse, she will continue to do it."

Mr Newbold said there will be about 18 items on CARICOM's agenda next week, of which agriculture, immigration, trade and manufacturing will be the focus.

The delegation will include Dr Minnis, Financial Services and Immigration Minister Brent Symonette, Agriculture Minister Renward Wells, Transport and Local Government Minister Frankie Campbell, Tourism and Aviation Minister Dionisio D'Aguilar, Foreign Affairs Minister Darren Henfield, CARICOM High Commissioner Reuben Rahming, Senior Policy Advisor Joshua Sears and acting Director of Agriculture Gregory Rahming.

The delegation will depart Saturday and return Monday.

During the CARICOM session, Dr Minnis will have high level talks with Haitian leaders about agriculture, trade and immigration.

"While immigration is an obvious concern," Mr Newbold said, "it is a shared belief in CARICOM that the more trade there is with Haiti among the Caribbean community it should help to stabilise the Haitian economy, therefore helping more Haitians to stay at home."