Dear Editor,
Last Tuesday at the National Park, the General Manager Ms Yolanda Vasconcellos was subjected to a thorough tongue-lashing by Permanent Secretary Joslyn McKenzie of the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment before being suspended for three days. This occurred in the presence of a number of employees and colleagues. The apparent reason for the Permanent Secretary’ s outburst was garbage under a stand of the National Park.
The Permanent Secretary has no such right, bearing in mind that the National Parks Commission is governed by a Board of Directors and no such decision was taken by the Board, so the General Manager has all right to feel affronted. Anyone can understand the ways in which this incident would have affected Ms Vasconcellos.
As it happens our politicians are sometimes inclined to behave as though they are the law, and this has much to do with misconceptions about the limits of their authority, so that everything they decide is usually allowed to pass without any query. We believe that Mr McKenzie should recognize that there can be no justification for his public dressing down of the General Manager and should extend an expression of regret to her.
Yours faithfully,
Adam Budhoo
