Dear Editor,
Informed sources have indicated that an appointment may have been made to the chairmanship of the Guyana Livestock Development Authority, which is supposed to be established via the enactment of the Guyana Livestock Development Authority Act 2010.
It is not clear however whether, as required by the act, the Minister did in fact appoint the date of its coming into operation.
Indeed Section 3(1) of the act states “The Minister shall, by notification in the Gazette establish a body corporate to be known as the Guyana Livestock Development Authority,” the administration and management of which, according to Section 4(1), shall vest in a board consisting of up to eleven directors, including representatives of “non-governmental organisations or private sector agencies.”
According to Section 5(2) it is from amongst these directors that the minister shall appoint the “the Chairperson.”
If the legal procedures were in fact observed, it follows that the Board of the Guyana Livestock Development Authority has already been appointed (presumably without public notification).
The question is why should such an important development not be communicated to the public, and more particularly to the livestock farmers and the livestock product industry as a whole.
For those who may not know, the new organisation will be responsible for a range of activities of which the following are but a few:
● prescribing quality guidelines for the sale of livestock or livestock products;
● providing veterinary service to livestock farmers, estab lishing and maintaining a surveillance system, inspecting hatcheries and processing facilities and ensuring compliance
with national and international animal health standards and guidelines;
● providing and having farmers’ access to approved genetic materials to be used in upgrading the domestic livestock population based on market demands and consumer preferences;
● regulating the importation and exportation of genetic material for livestock development, including live animals, liquid and frozen semen, frozen embryos and other materi
al;
● assisting farmers to develop cost effective and sustainable livestock production systems through the use of appropriate and market driven technologies; and
● regulating the rearing and slaughter of livestock according to acceptable international standards.
So it is certain that all relevant stakeholders would be interested in being fully informed of the establishment of the authority, and its management and operational capabilities.
So far as its operational capability is concerned there would of course be active interest in learning the source of the range of skills the authority will require, to perform even those functions identified above.
It would appear that the Guyana Livestock Development Authority would be the type of organisation where the directorate for one must represent an amalgam of relevant knowledge and professional experience.
The trouble with the projected appointment, if true, is that it inheres an irregularity in which the proposed incumbent already holds a constitutional position, in respect of which the law does not permit any other employment.
Yours faithfully,
(Name and address provided)