Fitzgerald named PM’s senior policy advisor

Former Minister of Education Jerome Fitzgerald has been appointed senior policy advisor and head of the Prime Minister’s Delivery Unit (PMDU), the PMDU said. 

The PMDU made the revelation in a post on Twitter around 3:40 p.m., but the post was later deleted.

Sir Baltron Bethel served as senior policy advisor for Prime Minister Perry Christie. 

Joshua Sears served as senior policy advisor to Prime Minister Dr. Hubert Minnis.

Viana Gardiner previously headed the PMDU under Minnis.

Fitzgerald had a controversial exit from public life in 2017.

At the end of the term, it was revealed that he had solicited contracts from then-Baha Mar developer Sarkis Izmirlian for his family’s business.

After the Free National Movement (FNM) assumed office in May 2017, Minnis revealed in the House of Assembly that Fitzgerald’s father benefited from a million-dollar-a-year, no-bid customs brokerage services contract from Bahamas Power and Light.

In response, Fitzgerald said, “I have made it unequivocally clear both inside and outside the House of Assembly on numerous occasions, that I do not own any shares in any of my father’s companies…”. 

He added, “I am not a beneficiary of any of the proceeds of any such contract if indeed there was one.”

The former minister has maintained a low profile in politics since his defeat in 2017, however, he was instrumental in the Progressive Liberal Party’s (PLP) re-election campaign, The Nassau Guardian understands. 

The PLP, under the leadership of Philip Brave Davis, roared back to power on September 16, defeating the FNM in a landslide victory.

The PMDU, located at the Office of the Prime Minister, is responsible for “supporting and monitoring the performance of the public sector with respect to the government’s key priorities: education, safety and security, ease of doing business, Over-the-Hill, land reform, energy reform, infrastructure, public sector modernization and the reconstruction of Abaco Island and the Abaco Cays and Grand Bahama Island”.

At last report, the PMDU included seven people: Kimberley Evans-Cleare, operations manager; Ryan Williamson, legal officer and priority manager; Dayvan Seymour, senior priority manager; Tevin Bannister, priority manager; Morgan Adderley, junior priority manager; Jon-Alexander Sands, data analyst; and Racquel Wildgoose, project assistant. 

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source https://thenassauguardian.com/fitzgerald-named-pms-senior-policy-advisor/