Dear Editor,
The recent media burst that the Guyana Forestry Commission (GFC) would soon be undergoing a restructuring has sent shock waves among the staff of the Commission. A large majority of staff are in a state of panic in regard to the sudden turn of events of this plan. What is of more concern is that several board members, when approached by staff, have indicated they were not consulted or made aware of this restructuring plan.
Staff members are planning to protest, and take legal action should the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNRE), or persons identified to do the restructuring, proceed with such an acrimonious idea.
Staff members feel there is an ulterior motive behind this plan. Why is it that one of the most controversial board members was chosen to lead this process? Forestry has been in top performance when it comes to the Green Environment and Sustainable Forest Management. Over the years, there have been many international reviews of the GFC, and all have been very positive. Only last month, an international firm was doing an audit of GFC operations, and from all indications, there was very good compliance; so why the need for a restructuring exercise?
We were told that using the Green State Development Strategy (GSDS) to realign the GFC is just a ploy to make wholesale changes within the Commission. How can you use the GSDS when the staff have not seen this document? Nobody consulted with the staff to draft this document, and now you want to change GFC to suite this document? Read between the lines.
Staff were told that one major area that the coordinator is pushing is to merge the Forest Monitoring Division and the Forest Resources Division, as shown in this attachment. The current head of the FMD, whom sources claim is a close associate of the coordinator, is tip to head this merged unit. This would be an area of massive corruption, as the person controlling land allocation would be the same person in charge of checking and monitoring. So who checks on whom? It is clear as day that the idea is to foster corruption and rid the Commission of technical and competent people.
Staff members are calling on the good and compassionate Chair for help, as we are already undergoing a lot of stress with late payment of salaries, and are unable to service our loans, utility bills, school fees, etc on a monthly basis. How much more can we take?
Sincerely,
Concerned employees
