Wheatley back in action
Published:Thursday | September 18, 2025 | 12:12 AM
Dr Andrew Wheatley, who has been newly reinstated to Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness’ Cabinet, is urging Jamaicans to judge him on his performance, rather than “propaganda” as he assumes his role as minister without portfolio in the Office of the Prime Minister, with responsibility for science, technology and special projects.
Wheatley resigned from the Cabinet in 2018 to allow for the issues surrounding the management of the energy, science and technology portfolio, for which he was minister, to be ventilated.
However, he told The Gleaner, shortly after he was freshly appointed at King’s House yesterday, that he has been exonerated.
“I believe I am fully vindicated. The reports, all the issues, have been resolved. No one can point to any matter as it relates to what took place in the past. I am fully committed to Jamaica and to ensure that we move Jamaica forward,” he said.
To this end, he said he would be doing an in-depth assessment of the different subject areas under his portfolio in order to chart a plan forward.
“We’ll be looking at existing programmes and seeing where we can improve on them; and we will stir them in a direction in which we can maximise the output for Jamaicans,” he said.
Stating that there is “quite a bit of work to be done”, as not much attention has been given to the sciences over the years, Wheatley said his quest would be to create an environment where Jamaicans are not just consumers of technology, but also creators.
“We are very innovative, and we have some very brilliant young people right now and we need to create the environment for them to grow from a scientific perspective. As it relates to technology, that’s where the world is headed, and I’ve always stated that we have the capacity as a people to become innovators, and what we need to do is to channel that level of innovativeness, especially with our young people,” he said.