Stephen Cadiz

The Hon. Stephen Cadiz is a politician in Trinidad and Tobago. A member of parliament for Chaguanas East, he assumed the portfolio of Minister of Trade and Industry on Wednesday 2 June 2010. A prominent businessman and social activist, Minister Cadiz headed the Ministry responsible for the country’s diversification drive, i.e. developing the non-energy services and manufacturing sectors to achieve long term sustainable economic growth. After the PNM won the general election in 2015, Cadiz was succeeded by PNM member Fitzgerald Hinds.

Early life

Minister Cadiz is of French and Spanish heritage and is originally from Arima, the largest town in the Eastern part of Trinidad. In 1987 in the midst of a severe recession, he started Tropical Power Limited In Edinburgh Village, Chaguanas. Based on his own knowledge of the power generation services industry, Minister Cadiz grew his company from a locally based entity into a regional organization which specializes in the sale, rental and service of commercial and industrial generators.

Minister Cadiz first came to prominence in Trinidad and Tobago through his social activism in mid-2005. However he had already been involved in various citizens’ groups and in particular environmental causes, for a number of years. Following the murder of his employee, Keith Noel, and angered by the rising crime rate and apparent indifference of the authorities to the deteriorating social situation, Minister Cadiz formed the Keith Noel 136 Committee. The Committee organised a number of large social activities including mailing out a referendum to some 930,000 citizens in 2006 and staging the famous Death March against crime in 2005.

Realising that civic activism was not having the desired effect, Minister Cadiz decided to enter the political arena, in order to affect the change he believed was necessary for the country to move forward. In his first foray into politics he represented Chaguanas East as a member of the United National Congress (UNC) of the People’s Partnership, and after their victory at the polls on 24 May 2010, was sworn in as a Minister in the Government of Trinidad and Tobago on Friday 28 May 2010.

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