After 20 years as head of the National Agricultural Research & Extension Institute (NAREI), Dr Oudho Homenauth received what he described as an “immediate dismissal” from Director General of the Ministry of Agriculture Madanlall Ramraj on March 8.
“Last Monday I was called to a meeting by the Director General at the Ministry and was told that this is my last day at NAREI,” Homenauth told Stabroek News yesterday.
While he has no intention of fighting to retain his position Homenauth told this newspaper that he is not comfortable with the smokescreen government has deployed to disguise its actions.
On March 11, the Ministry of Agriculture announced that former head of the Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB), Jagnarine Singh had been appointed the new acting Chief Executive Officer of NAREI.
It has been previously reported that Homenauth had been offered a post at the Ministry and chose to leave but the agronomist is denying this claim.
“He [Ramraj] said it was a directive from above that he had tried and the Minister had tried but they had no luck and that they would try to find a place at the Ministry for me. I said, ‘What are you talking about? This is a dismissal! You are dismissing me!’ And I left the meeting at around 2:30 and returned to the institute. I then went home after work and called one of the staff to tell them I had been informed I was no longer CEO so they would have to send someone to collect the institute’s vehicle the next day,” Homenauth explained.
He repeatedly stressed that the Ministry provided him with no explanation for the decision and as far as he is aware there was no complaint about his performance of his duties.
“Only on Sunday the Minister messaged me to say there was an issue with acoushi ants in Berbice that he would like me to resolve…I had just spent months, since November, working with them on the 2021 Budget explaining the projects we intend to pursue and no one said that any of my ideas or actions did not align with the government’s policy position,” he shared.
He further noted that he is confused by the actions of the government since one day after his “dismissal” he received a letter from Permanent Secretary Delma Nedd informing him that he should proceed on his annual leave from March 9.
“I responded letting her know that I had already been informed that I had been dismissed so she did not need to mince words with me and should withdraw the letter. I never asked for leave…I haven’t heard from them since,” he indicated.
According to Homenauth it was the same Permanent Secretary who had renewed his contract just seven months ago.
“I have a contract signed on August 1 by Nedd. I made a formal request last year and it was renewed for three years on that date but I know they can determine your contract. I can’t do anything because with this government once they want you gone you are gone…honestly I have no issue with them replacing me if that is what they want to do it is the way it has been done…so I really want people to know how this government operates,” he stressed.
Asked if the date of his contract, one day before the installation of the new government, likely had any impact on the action, Homenauth said he couldn’t see how that could be the case.
He bemoaned being unable to say goodbye to his staff or offer his gratitude for their work throughout the years.
“I would like to thank from the bottom of my heart all the staff for the work that they have done over the past years and I hope they continue in the same vein,” he said, adding that he hopes Guyanese farmers continue to benefit from the initiatives pursued during his tenure.
Homenauth said that he is most proud of how the work of the institute over the last two decades has positively affected the availability of food.
“I’m proud of the variety of different fruits and vegetables that is on the market. Except for one or two times there has been no shortage of fruit and vegetables in Guyana. I’m proud of the number of new crops introduced and that we’ve done a lot to adapt to climate change through shade houses and irrigation systems,” he told Stabroek News
He stressed that despite claims that he and his staff were not proactive they have consistently worked to resolve issues across the country.
“Look, recently the farmers in Wakenaam got help…those on the East Coast where they had issues with plantain and passion fruit where they had problems in the last two months. We’ve been proactive and instituted a lot of initiatives which I don’t think they know about. They are not concerned about those things they just want to get at people. That’s how I feel about this…they are mentioning my age which I feel is discriminatory. They are making it sound like I am infirm or have dementia or something like that,” he lamented.
