He told the staff that the former Acting Permanent Secretary in his Ministry, Jeremy W. Hodge, will, with immediate effect, be the acting Director of the PWD, replacing G. Navarro Donovan.

It is unclear how long the arrangements will be for or if Mr Hodge’s acting appointment went through the Public Service Commission (PSC), the body responsible for making recommendations for Heads of Department, especially senior level appointments to Government posts.

Back to old post

Mr Donovan is expected to revert to his post as one of three Deputy Directors of the PWD. It is believed there are issues with the performance of the PWD and other questions about Government processes.

Meanwhile, Minister for Transportation, Works and Utilities, Hon Kye M. Rymer (R5) did not respond to request for a comment on the appointment of Mr Hodge as the Acting PWD Director.

The former National Democratic Party (NDP) regime dismantled the Public Works Department, denying them of staff and money to carry out its mandate and outsourced many of the works. It resulted in low morale and poor working conditions for the PWD, especially following the 2017 hurricanes.