The board of the Guyana Wildlife Management Authority after an internal investigation has decided to sack the Head of the Wildlife Division, Khalawan over several irregularities related to the export of wildlife including dolphins. The controversy over the planned export of dolphins was brought to the surface by several reports in Stabroek Business this year and the whole affair raises serious questions requiring more investigation notwithstanding the pronouncements on Friday by the wildlife authority. In its statement, the wildlife authority said it has lost confidence in Khalawan as he had "exceeded his mandate as administrative head of the division and caused various wildlife species to be exported without the requisite approvals and consistently kept this information from the board". Among the species exported were dolphins, giant anteaters and `towa-towa' birds. It has now been discovered, according to the authority, that Khalawan had issued permits for the export of dolphins and had initiated a series of measures preparatory to the exportation of dolphins without the knowledge of the board.
From the rendering of the facts, according to the authority, one gets the impression that Khalawan had done things which a more alert management authority would have taken more aggressive and early action on.
The authority says that Khalawan allowed several dozen anteaters to be exported without the approval of the board which is the only body authorised under the Species Protection regulations to approve such exports. The board says when this matter was raised with him Khalawan apologised. Another export of four anteaters had to be approved by the board, the statement said, as the exporter could have sued the authority on the grounds of discrimination as Khalawan had by himself approved previous exports. It was later discovered that Khalawan had added an extra anteater to this particular export without the board's approval. Though the Towa-Towa bird is excluded from exports as it is protected under the Bird Protection Act, Khalawan allowed the export of several of these and when questioned by the board said that they were exported as pets and therefore there was no need to inform it.
These alleged transgressions certainly necessitated some stiff censuring by the board and a decision on whether Khalawan was the most suitable person for the post. That did not occur and despite the earlier infractions Khalawan allegedly proceeded with a series of unathorised actions related to the export of dolphins and it was only in June this year that the wildlife authority was clued into actions that Khalawan had triggered in January this year. For a division that comes administratively under the Office of the President the law of the jungle seems to have ruled the wildlife trade and oversight has been very poor. Those in charge should have been more alert considering the past transgressions in the wildlife business which caused closures of the trade and the moving of the unit from the Ministry of Agriculture to the Environmental Protection Agency and finally the Office of the President. Moreover, the action against Khalawan comes amid the furore that he has created by alleging that senior people in the Office of the President had authorised him to commence the export of dolphins. The public therefore may interpret his severing from the Wildlife Division as an attempt at damage control and to close off further inquiry.
The inquiry must not end there. Now that the management authority has taken action against Khalawan, it must now turn over all of its information on the suspect transactions to the police for the relevant investigations to determine whether any laws were broken and whether charges should be brought against any one. If irregular transactions occurred they must have been motivated by something. The source of the motivation must be gotten to.
In addition, considering the new powers envisaged for the Office of the Auditor General in the recently passed audit bill, that office should conduct a special investigation into what transpired under Khalawan's reign and more specifically with respect to the dolphin exports. The Auditor General's Office has earned the respect of the public in its drive to restore public accountability, has delved into wildlife matters before and its findings will have more standing as an independent assessment.
Khalawan aside, questions remain over the role of others. The exporter of the dolphins McNeal Enterprises, headed by Presidential Advisor on Empowerment, Odinga Lumumba would only say so far that the company facilitated the exports on behalf of others that he has so far declined to name. The more important issue however is that McNeal Enterprises, known more for its boxing extravaganzas, is not a registered wildlife exporter and doesn't meet the requirements for exporting. Indeed, there are no facilities in the country for handling the export of dolphins. How McNeal Enterprises could therefore present itself as a wildlife exporter and be approved in a now questionable transaction must therefore be subject to the most intense scrutiny. The paperwork through which McNeal was approved for export should make interesting reading. The scrutiny should also consider the propriety of having a presidential advisor operating within the Office of the President (OP) conducting a business transaction with a unit within OP whether for McNeal or on behalf of someone else. Mr Lumumba's standing as an advisor to the president can lead to the supposition by underlings in OP that he has approval at the highest level.
With respect to Dr Luncheon, it must be made explicitly clear what his relationship with the Wildlife Division is and whether that is an appropriate role for the Head of the Presidential Secretariat (HPS). His part in the controversy turns upon correspondence he sent to another Presidential Advisor, Kellawan Lall who was serving as secretary of the division. Should the president's political advisor be serving as secretary in such a division? That question again needs attention. The correspondence to Lall was copied to Khalawan in the latter's capacity as head of the wildlife division and said inter alia that Lall should "consider" certain proposals for exports of dolphins. What transpired between Lall and Khalawan after the correspondence is unclear but dolphins were subsequently exported. The board of the wildlife authority in its statement on Friday 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". That is a legally sound interpretation of the letter but in practical terms it is naïve. If the HPS, who throughout his near 12-year tenure at OP has by his words and actions held himself out to be a centre of power, writes a letter to the secretary of the board saying he should "consider" such and such course of action and it is copied to Khalawan it could be apprehended by the latter as a veiled instruction to proceed as suggested. As tortuous as he is with his weekly phraseology, Dr Luncheon's use of the word "consider" was quite interesting and the sequence of events and Lall's input or lack thereof will have to be explored. Khalawan has also cited specific conversations as evidence of approval and these should be assessed for credibility.
Not only Khalawan's actions require scrutiny but also those of two presidential advisors: Messrs Lumumba and Lall and the HPS himself. Their actions are outside of the jurisdiction of the wildlife authority and hence the need for a credible investigator like the Auditor General's Office.
It doesn't help at all that whenever a senior government official is at the centre of a controversy, President Jagdeo goes out of his way to say that the relevant official has assured him that there is no wrong-doing. More recently the President did it in relation to Minister Gajraj and now he has taken up cudgels on behalf of Dr Luncheon. Such statements tend to colour and prejudice any attempt at independent inquiries particularly as in the case of Minister Gajraj a presidential commission of inquiry was eventually announced. The President should simply let those who are responsible for investigating do their work and come up with the answers.
The dolphin export requires a credible investigation that deconstructs the actions of the wildlife division, its board, Mr Khalawan and Messrs Lumumba, Lall and Luncheon.