The Board of the Guyana Wildlife Management Authority has fired head of the Wildlife Unit Khalawan (only name) citing a loss of confidence in him as an employee.
The authority said in a statement issued though the Government Information Agency last night that after an investigation into irregularities at the unit it had found that Khalawan had "exceeded his mandate as administrative head of division and caused various wildlife species to be exported without the requisite approvals and consistently kept this information from the board."
The board said among the species exported without approval are dolphins, giant anteaters and 'towa-towa', a popular singing bird.
Khalawan had earlier been sent on leave to facilitate the probe, which was initiated after Chairman of the board, Dr Keshav Mangal received a report that dolphins were being exported from Guyana contrary to other assurances from the unit. Khalawan then issued a statement on Thursday in which he said he was directed by Head of the Presidential Secretariat Dr Roger Luncheon to grant export permits for 25 dolphins to Presidential Adviser on Empowerment, Odinga Lumumba.
Luncheon has denied this claim and Lumumba has refused to comment beyond saying that his company McNeal Enterprises only facilitated the exports.
However, the board said it has "determined that the letter (from Luncheon) cannot be construed as an instruction to Khalawan to export dolphins and/or for him to usurp the authority of the board and/or to conceal such actions." The letter was directed by Luncheon to Secretary of the authority Kellawan Lall and copied to Khalawan only for information, the board said and the correspondence expressly requested Lall to "consider" certain proposals by Luncheon.
The board said that prior to the export of the dolphins, a non-detrimental study mandated by the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species Wild Flora and Fauna (CITES) had been conducted and examined by the local Scientific Authority then sent to CITES for a review. It said that while CITES does not have to give approval, it was important for the organisation to pronounce on the integrity of the study and it had taken the position that no steps should be taken until word came from CITES. The board said Khalawan was specifically asked at several board meetings whether he had heard from CITES and had always responded in the negative.
Citing reasons for its lack of confidence in him, the board said it had discovered that Khalawan had "issued permits to export dolphins in January 2004; (levied) the requisite royalties; instructed Wildlife Veterinary Officer Dr Applewhaite to visit the area where the dolphins were being held; verified the issued health certificates; knew that 11 dolphins left the country in May by sea from Waini Point, Essequibo; and even communicated to Venezuelan authorities concerning the validity of CITES permits." The statement said that none of this information had been conveyed to any member of the board.
Meanwhile the board said that as a result of the irregularities uncovered it was considering putting systems in place that would prevent anyone from manipulating quotas by extending them, including additional species for export, hiding, falsifying or destroying documents, including those of a financial nature. It said it was in discussions with the World Wildlife Fund for the introduction of a computerised system of permits which will show up discrepancies.
The statement said Khalawan had allowed the export of several dozen endangered anteaters and cited a specific incident in which he had added to the export quota without approval. The board said Khalawan had been called in on this and had apologised.
Earlier yesterday, Presi-dent Bharrat Jagdeo said at a press conference that he might consider shutting down the wildlife trade because of the current irregularities. The wildlife trade has suffered from this type of problem for a number of years and was moved from under the control of the Environmental Protection Agency to the Office of the President.
The Guyana Wildlife Management Authority statement said the recent problem had damaged Guyana's reputation as a partner in the export trade. However the board pledged to continue to manage the country's wildlife resources in a sustainable manner.