The Ministry of Tourism, Environment and Culture has a long history; its origin can be traced back from 1965 when the Department of Culture started off as Sports and Culture within the Ministry of Education. In the late sixties the Department of Culture was transferred to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. In 1970 the Department of Culture was returned to the Ministry of Education until 1986 when it became part of the newly established Ministry of Tourism, Sports and Culture. During all this time the Department of Sports and Culture was one department until 1995 when it was separated into two departments each headed by its own Director.
The Department of Environment started off as the National Environment Secretariat in the Office of the Prime Minister in 1994. In 1998, the Ministry of Environment, Gender and Youth Affairs was established. Following 2002 the realignment of ministries, the National Environment Secretariat (NES) was transferred to the Ministry of Tourism, Sports and Culture, changing the name to Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Environment through Legal Notice No. 138 of 2002. The Ministry was later re-named the Ministry of Tourism, Environment and Culture per Legal Notice No. 46 of 2003, while the Department of Sports was moved to the Ministry of Environment, Gender and Youth Affairs and renamed the Ministry of Gender, Sports, Youth and Creation. Explaining the need for this slight change in name, The Right Honourable the Prime Minister in his statement before Parliament on the Adjustment and Realignment of Government Ministries and Departments in March 2003 said: “Owing to the extent of environmental degradation in our country, a realignment of this ministry was found necessary to reflect the significance of environmental preservation. In this way “Environment” now comes before “Culture”.”
The major reason for restructuring of these Ministries was to give them the focused direction relevant to their specific mandate. The ministry has never developed any strategic plan before and after the realignment. The ministry conducted its daily operations through various departmental objectives.
