The Office of the President (OP) has taken over the responsibility of running the wildlife trade from the Environment Protection Agency (EPA) and will be setting up an advisory committee.
Political Adviser to the President Kellawan Lall and former head of the Wildlife Unit in the Ministry of Agriculture, Dr Karen Pilgrim have already been named as committee members. The naming of the other members is expected to be done within the next two weeks.
Head of the Presidential Secretariat, Dr Roger Luncheon, disclosed at his weekly press conference on Wednesday that the Wildlife Division had been removed from the EPA.
A meeting was held by OP with wildlife exporters on Wednesday evening to discuss the changes and for OP to hear some of the difficulties being faced by the exporters.
Dr Luncheon announced that Cabinet approved, in principle, the composition of the wildlife and scientific authority. This would be done, he said, to conform with domestic legislation and international obligations with bio-diversity conventions.
Luncheon stated Cabinet approved the relocation of the division to OP specifically to deal with the management of the trade, licensing and related matters.
Last year, the Wildlife Division was rocked by scandal when its finance officer was charged with embezzlement and appeared before the court. Since then, the division has been under close scrutiny by the authorities and this has affected the trade, with some exporters experiencing difficulties in getting their documents processed.
The unit fell under the Ministry of Agriculture up until 1998, when it was moved to the EPA which is under OP's purview. The EPA now has no responsibility for the wildlife trade.
At the meeting on Wednesday, exporters were asked to suggest ways in which the running of the trade could be improved and also about the difficulties they were experiencing.
The meeting was held at the Police Officers Mess, Eve Leary, and OP was represented by Luncheon who left shortly after addressing the exporters. He was accompanied by Permanent Secretary in OP, Jennifer Webster, and Leroy Cort.
Cort was initially asked to look into the way the division was being managed when it was under the EPA after the scandal unfolded. He is part of the team which is setting up the new division.
Exporters told the OP representatives that one of their major concerns was the late opening of trading every year. They pointed out that trading had been closed since the end of December last year and was yet to be re-opened. When this happened, exporters did not have enough time to ship out their quota of wildlife.
Some exporters complained that favoritism was shown when the unit was with the EPA. It was alleged that when trading re-opened late, some exporters were granted longer extensions after the trade was closed to ship out their quota, but others were not. There would be no need for extensions if trading re-opened on time, exporters argued.
Contacted on Thursday, exporters pointed out to Stabroek News that the government had closed wildlife trading for about three years just after coming to power in 1992, ostensibly to introduce legislation, train staff and generally implement systems for more efficient and effective management.
It was noted that several years after, the previous situation apparently still existed and this was evidenced by the current revamping of the Wildlife Division. The mismanagement was stifling the trade, exporters stated. They contended that the trade provided a livelihood for about 8,000 persons including trappers, woodcutters, plywood suppliers and the exporters. Smuggling of wildlife increased as a result of the closure of the trade, exporters said.
According to reports, Webster told the exporters at the meeting that the reason the changes were taking place at the division was that there was a lack of expertise to manage the trade and this was being addressed.
Exporters told the meeting that it was their view that someone with the skills and expertise such as Dr Pilgrim should be utilised more in the day-to-day management of the trade. It was felt because Dr Pilgrim had many years of expertise, was knowledgeable on the local situation, and was recognised by several international bodies including CITES, she fitted the bill.
Exporters said they had a good interaction with the OP representatives and the meeting lasted close to three hours. OP is to contact the exporters in two weeks for a further update.