Dear Editor,
Informed sources must express disappointment in the response given by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture to the letter published in your columns of December 28.
(‘Has an appointment to the chairmanship of the Guyana Livestock Development Authority been made?’ SN, December 28; ‘Gecom Chairman Dr Surujbally’s appointment as Chairman of the Guyana Livestock Development Authority is not an irregularity since it is not ‘employment’ SN, December 30)
They lament the tactic of distraction by focusing on the Chairman of Gecom, who was not identified to the public in the letter being questioned.
That letter more importantly invited attention to legal procedures required for the appointment of the chairmanship of the Guyana Livestock Development Authority (GLDA). But the Permanent Secretary’s letter has carefully avoided confirmation that the Board of Directors of the authority has been appointed – an act of which a public launching of officers is quite irrelevant.
The Permanent Secretary has failed to state in (alleged) compliance of Section 5 of the relevant act who are the chosen directors representative of the categories of stakeholders so diligently listed, and whether the chairman was in fact selected from amongst the nominees, as provided for in Section 5(2), which has been so glaringly glossed over.
It is a pity that the letter in SN of December 30, sought defensively to address prejudice rather than logic. Except that the further obfuscation in mentioning the retention of all staff by the GLDA, two things have come to light: one – that the GLDA has in fact been established, without the board being announced; two – the GLDA could not ‘retain’ staff, it could only ‘employ’ staff.
It would still therefore be appreciated if all the stakeholders mentioned in the letter be appropriately briefed on this development, including the mechanism (documentation) used for confirming the staff appointments referred to.
Who in the GLDA for example will advertise for the ‘additional skills necessary’?
Yours faithfully,
(Name and address provided)
