GFC says loss of confidence in quality control official led to dismissal

GFC says loss of confidence in quality control official led to dismissal

Sunday, October 7th 2007
Stabroek News
http://www.stabroeknews.com/index.pl/article?id=56530478

The Guyana Forestry Com-mission (GFC) says the dismissal of a quality control official followed its loss of confidence in his ability to perform his duties "in a manner consistent with his position as the Assistant Commissioner of Forests-Quality Control." The statement came in response to comments attributed to the dismissed official Rudolph Adams carried in another newspaper. A press release from the GFC has dismissed the allegations made by the former forest officer as having a slanderous implication. Adams was sacked last month for alleged breaches of operations procedure but he said that according to the Human Resources Depart-ment (HRD) manual as a senior official he should not have been fired without the GFC Board being involved. According to the release, Adams "was involved in clear repeated breaches at a personal level" which it deemed unacceptable since these were in contravention of the GFC's guidelines and would tarnish the credibility and integrity of the commission with respect to its role in regulating the sector. The release added that following complaints from stakeholders and in order to ensure better compliance with GFC procedures, the commission had appointed Adams to the position. It had also met with stakeholders and staff on several occasions to remind everyone of the procedures to be followed and to emphasize that there would be no tolerance for breaches of procedure, especially in relation to the export of forest produce. Some of Adams functions included ensuring division staff were trained and equip-ped to carry out their functions; providing a quality control service by monitoring compliance with grading requirements; checking ex-port documents and preparing export reports; and ensuring all operations were carried out to a high standard and according to procedure. The statement went on to say that the GFC had identified cases where Adams had given instructions to staff under his supervision to brand forest produce destined for export in the absence of a Timber Marketing Certificate (TMC) application document and in the absence of independent grading as is the procedure. Other alleged breaches of procedure included the case where a TMC was issued for the export of finished doors but checks by the audit team had revealed that no doors were on the flat rack; instead a quantity of lumber without the independent grading or GFC verification marks was present. Additional checks revealed doors that had not been completed but which had been approved for export. On the basis of these findings, the release stated, a thorough investigation had been conducted, and statements had been given by all exporters which confirmed that there had indeed been breaches of procedure. The release added that Adams could not give a satisfactory reason for the breaches and indicated that he was merely doing pre-checking and had been given verbal information on the grades of the forest produce that he had approved for branding by the GFC, prior to the submission of a TMC application by the companies. Further it stated that Adams should have set the example in ensuring that the procedures were rigidly followed. As part of the GFC's zero tolerance for breaches and perceived malfeasance, appropriate disciplinary action was taken, including dismissal. Adams had told this newspaper that he wanted his case heard by an arbitration committee which Minister of Agriculture Robert Persaud had promised to put in place. Adams wrote a letter to Head of Human Resources at GFC indicating his intention to appeal the decision of his dismissal. He had stated that the GFC's letter had not specifically stated the reasons for the termination of his contract.