Above: Port of Spain (CJ Photo)

By the Caribbean Journal staff

Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar has appointed Senator Gerry Hadeed as the country’s new Minister of Tourism.

Hadeed, who had been serving as the country’s Minister of Communications, succeeds former Tourism Minister Chandresh Sharma, who resigned on Monday after allegations that he had assaulted a woman.

Hadeed’s appointment makes him the fourth tourism minister in Trinidad since Persad-Bissessar’s party won the country’s 2010 elections.

He is the former Chairman of the Airports Authority of Trinidad and Tobago until resigning in 2013.

Hadeed is also the former CEO of Trinidad-based Beacon Insurance, and has held posts on several boards in the country, including the National Gas Company.

Persad-Bissessar also announced that Vasant Barath had been named Minister of Trade, Investments and Communications.