Government ministers hit the ground running on May 5, visiting their offices at both existing and restructured ministries. Despite challenges in some areas, the ministers were eager to meet their staff and begin work.

One challenge faced was with the Office of the Prime Minister which at the time, did not seem to be in an appropriate condition for Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar to move in, according to Minister in the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) Barry Padarath, who toured Whitehall on May 5.

He was accompanied by Foreign Affairs and OPM Parliamentary Secretary Nicholas Morris and the permanent secretary in the OPM. During the tour, Padarath expressed dissatisfaction with the state of the building, suggesting work needed to be done on the interior to fix issues with mould and flooding before Persad-Bissessar could set up her office there.