New Finance, Trade ministers picked - Permanent Secretaries being replaced Guyana Chronicle November 19, 1999 PRESIDENT Bharrat Jagdeo, who marks his 100th day in office today, is this afternoon expected to formally announce Mr Saisnarine Kowlessar as the new Finance Minister and Mr Geoff Da Silva as the new Trade, Tourism and Industry Minister, sources said yesterday. The Chronicle understands he will also name new Permanent Secretaries to several ministries including Home Affairs, Health, Public Works and Communications, Legal Affairs and Local Government. The announcements are to come at a press conference the President has scheduled for this afternoon. Kowlessar, Head of the Management Department of the University of Guyana, has a Bachelor of Social Sciences Degree from UG and an MBA in Banking and Finance from Adelphi in New York. He is also a member of the Bank of Guyana Board. Kowlessar is expected to be sworn into office Tuesday. Da Silva, on special assignment at the Trade, Tourism and Industry ministry after substantive Minister, Mr. Michael Shree Chan took ill earlier this year and underwent surgery for a brain tumour in New York, is a former Guyana Counsul General in Toronto, Canada. The new Permanent Secretaries include Dr Prem Misir, based in the United States and former General Secretary of the National Association of Agriculture, Commercial and Industrial Employees (NAACIE), Dr N.K Gopaul, the Chronicle understands. Mr. Jagdeo has retained the Finance portfolio since his assumption to office in August and indications are that he will maintain overall responsibility for international financial matters while the new Finance Minister will be mainly in charge of domestic and related issues. The President returned home Wednesday night from the Commonwealth heads of government meeting which ended in Durban, South Africa Monday. A © page from: Guyana: Land of Six Peoples