Above: Haiti Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe on his first day as Planning and External Cooperation Minister (Photo: OPM Haiti)

By the Caribbean Journal staff

Haiti Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe officially assumed his role as Planning Minister Monday, following a cabinet reshuffle last week.

Lamothe, who had been serving as Haiti’s foreign minister since before his appointment as Prime Minister, relinquished that portfolio during the shake-up.

“We will work hard to deliver results quickly,” Lamothe said. “The Prime Minister is responsible for coordinating, and the [Planning Minister] is responsible for implementation.”

The portfolio includes Planning and External Cooperation.

Lamothe began his tenure as Planning Minister with a meeting with ministerial staff yesterday, saying he found the current team to have a “good mastery of the issues of the instittution.”

He urged the staff to “leave the traces of a job well done,” saying he wanted “quick results based on objectives.”

Lamothe said he would seek to develp a framework for the coordination of external cooperation.

Josefa Gautheir had previously served as Haiti’s Planning Minister. She was reassigned as Minister of Social Affairs and Labour.