Top forestry official fired, threatens legal action

Top forestry official fired, threatens legal action
Kaieteur News, 7 September 2007
One of two forestry officials accused of manipulating regulations has
been fired. This was confirmed yesterday.

Press statements last week stated that two Guyana Forestry Commission
(GFC) staff members were disciplined after a month-long investigation.
However, while it was not disclosed what form of discipline was meted
out, Kaieteur News has managed to acquire a copy of the termination
letter of one of the men.

In the letter dated August 28, 2007, and addressed to Rudolph Adams,
Assistant Commissioner of Forests-Quality Control, GFC demanded that
the high-ranking official return all its property and wished him the
best in his future endeavors.

“We wish to inform you that Management has carefully and exhaustively
reviewed your matter and we would like to advise that we wish to serve
notice to terminate your employment in accordance with Clause 12 of
your contract of employment which was entered into with effect from
2007.05.01, between yourself and the Guyana Forestry Commission.”

Adams declined to comment on the letter yesterday stating that he is in
the process of taking steps to address the situation. Another co-worker
of Adams , a forest ranger, who is also accused of wrongdoing, was sent
on one month's suspension, this newspaper understands.

Adams , during a recent interview in which he denied any wrongdoing,
said that after receiving the disciplinary letter from GFC last week,
he had visited Minister Robert Persaud, who is in charge of forestry,
and appealed to him for help.

According to the official, the Minister has promised to establish an
arbitration panel to review his case. This process should take about
three weeks, the man disclosed.

He said that he has not broken any laws; rather he pointed out to GFC's
management that he “toed the line” and even quoted from his job
description and the laws of Guyana in his defence.

GFC announced late last month that it was investigating a number of
employees for allegedly manipulating its systems and colluding with
exporters.

The Assistant Commissioner and another employee, a ranger, both
received letters on July 30, 2007, ordering them to proceed on special,
paid leave to allow for investigations to be conducted. The letter also
forbade the Assistant Commissioner to visit any GFC premises and any
stakeholder or exporter related to the forest industry.

Almost one month later, the two officials were found culpable in the
internal investigations and issued with the dismissal letters.

Meanwhile, the Assistant Commissioner also said that he has appealed to
the GFC to review the decision to discipline him. “I sent the appeal to
the Human Resources Department and I am awaiting the response.”

According to him, he spent more than a decade with GFC. He said that he
will await the outcome of the arbitration process and what GFC says to
his appeal before deciding his next step. A court challenge would not
be out of the question.

The actions against the two officials come in the wake of recent
announcements of management shake-ups within the army and prison
system, and are being viewed by many as Government's growing
intolerance of indiscipline and corruption within the public service
and governmental agencies.

A statement from GFC on Tuesday did not call any names or indicate
whether the police have been called in. GFC said that “two officers of
the GFC have been disciplined in accordance with the GFC Human
Resources Policy Manual.” Last week, a former manager of a top sawmill
disclosed that wrongdoings are widespread within the forestry sector.
He leveled several charges, claiming that Guyana is losing a lion's
share of the royalties due on timber and accused Customs officials and
GFC rangers of colluding with exporters to defraud the government.

Against this background, Amerindian Affairs Minister, Carolyn
Rodrigues, also accused loggers of abusing Amerindians by short-paying
or in some instances not paying them.

Minister Persaud has since indicated that he is paying a close eye to
the industry.