Prime Min­is­ter Dr Kei­th Row­ley has con­firmed that in just over two weeks, he will hand over lead­er­ship of Trinidad and To­ba­go to prime min­is­ter-des­ig­nate Stu­art Young.

Af­ter more than four decades in pol­i­tics—hav­ing first con­test­ed an elec­tion in 1981—Dr Row­ley is prepar­ing to close the book on his tenure as the coun­try’s leader on March 16. But be­fore step­ping down, he in­tends to com­plete a fi­nal set of tasks in the com­ing weeks.

“Many peo­ple in pub­lic life do not be­lieve or for­get that your ser­vice in pub­lic life is re­al­ly for a pe­ri­od. Doesn’t mat­ter how good you are or how im­por­tant you think you are, it’s all about a spe­cif­ic pe­ri­od—long, medi­um, or short,” Row­ley told the gath­er­ing at the com­mis­sion­ing cer­e­mo­ny for the Lisa Mor­ris-Ju­lian Boule­vard in Ari­ma.