Dismissal of EPA Executive Director reversed
Luncheon says procedure for removal to be clarified
Stabroek News
December 19, 2002
Dismissed Executive Director of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Bal Parsaud was back on the job yesterday but it may only be for a short period until procedures are clarified on how he is to be removed from the entity.
On Monday, it had been announced in a Government Information Agency (GINA) release, sourced to the Head of the Presidential Secretariat, Dr Roger Luncheon, that Parsaud's contract had been terminated as of December 16. The GINA release had said that the termination decision reflected the views of the administration and was also the decision reached at a meeting between Luncheon and the board of directors of the EPA.
This, however, is being denied by a member of the board, who in a letter to this newspaper (see page six) said that GINA was inaccurate in saying that the decision to terminate Persaud's contract was taken at a meeting between Luncheon and board members on Saturday last.
According to the board member they [the members] did not participate in any such decision but were merely advised of the intent to pursue a particular course of action and the reason for such.
At his weekly press briefing yesterday, Luncheon, also Cabinet Secretary, admitted that his interventions in the matter were at variance with the intent of Cabinet and therefore the earlier termination decision had been reversed.
"The initial intervention by the Secretary to the Cabinet were indeed inconsistent with Cabinet's conclusions and steps are being taken to remedy that situation," Luncheon said.
He added that Cabinet was firm in its resolve that it had lost confidence in Parsaud. According to Luncheon, the dispute occurred in relation to the procedure to facilitate the removal of Parsaud from the EPA.
"The dispute occurred on the procedure to implement the disengagement," the Cabinet Secretary said.
"This is where the dispute arose and it was indeed confirmed at Cabinet, that the procedures initiated by the Secretary to the Cabinet, yours truly, were inconsistent to Cabinet's understanding and that those matters would have to be rectified," Luncheon posited.
Contacted yesterday, attorney for Parsaud, Khemraj Ramjattan told Stabroek News that Luncheon had no authority to dismiss his client rather it is the function of the appointed board.
Ramjattan further expressed concern over the kind of inclusive government the administration is trying to promote when it continually tries to override decisions of boards whenever it is not comfortable with them. He maintained that his client is of impeccable integrity and ought not to be dismissed.
The Cabinet Secretary said the decision to remove Parsaud was based on his performance of tasks as head of the wildlife administration. Parsaud could not be contacted yesterday for comment.
According to Luncheon, "the gentlemen, the officer, had been tasked with certain responsibilities dealing specifically with the wildlife and its administration. During his stewardship the administration has had to suffer a number of indignities including fraud, including the loss of an extremely lucrative market for our trappers and our exporters and other unresolved matters."
It was on this basis Luncheon said, the issue of confidence arose, which ultimately led to the Cabinet's stance. (Oscar P. Clarke)
