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Embattled manager was not qualified for job – GWI official
The hiring of a twice-convicted drug trafficker at the state-owned Guyana Water Incorporated (GWI) is generating intense debate, with questions being now asked about his qualifications.
GWI’s head, Dr. Richard Van-West Charles
Manager of GWI’s Debt Recovery Unit, Lear Goring, was employed late last year but it appears that the entity disregarded his background or simply did not know.
This week, amidst public pressure, GWI’s management sent him home pending a probe by the Board of Directors.
Goring is said to be close friend of Managing Director, Dr. Richard Van-West Charles.
GWI has remained mum on his hiring and asked for all questions by the media to be forwarded to its Public Relations Department. However, there has been no response since the story broke last week.
GWI sources, yesterday, speaking on condition of anonymity, insisted that Goring did not have the requisite qualifications.
“There is nothing much in his personnel file. The position was not advertised and to boot, there was not much anything that makes one understand on what criteria Mr Goring was hired,” a senior GWI official said.
On Monday, Minister of Communities, Ronald Bulkan, who is charged with responsibilities of the water sector, said that GWI has been asked to prepare a report of the hiring of the manager, following the report by Kaieteur News on Sunday that said that all was not above board.
The hiring has also caught the attention of the Opposition, with former Minister of Housing and Water, Irfaan Ali, making it clear that GWI’s internal controls are supposed to conform to international standards, especially with the employment of workers.
“As far as I am aware, and I know, the Human Resources Department of GWI has international standards… international regulations. And the policies are in keeping with those regulations and standards. As a matter of fact, the hiring policy is equivalent and even superior to any corporation in Guyana.”
Lear Goring
Ali, whose government lost power last year May to the APNU-AFC Coalition, noted that the internal controls of GWI have been “designed to withstand all aspects of integrity and transparency, openness, fairness and so on, and built into that are hiring strategies.”
There must be clearance to hire personnel with background checks and an interviewing process that has to be followed.
“The vacancy has to be advertised. Persons have to be shortlisted. The qualifications have to be assessed…there has to be evaluation criteria. And then there has to be interview.”
The former minister expressed surprise that GWI’s hiring controls were breached as there is even an Internal Audit Department that monitors any new employment and would double-check to ensure the processes have been followed.
“The Internal Audit is not only to conduct financial audits…there are other audits too, including looking at all aspects of human resources.”
Questioned, the Member of Parliament stressed that he would be surprised if there was a breakdown in controls as GWI’s staffers, especially in the Human Resources Department and Internal Audit, are professionals.
Goring was convicted twice by the United States in the 1990’s after he was caught smuggling drugs to the country. He was deported twice and has served time in the US.
The revelations over the weekend immediately raised questions whether GWI knew about Goring’s background and how he ended up being hired to such a sensitive position in that unit.
The all-sensitive Debt Recovery Unit handles tens of millions each year collected from delinquent customers.
Goring’s name surfaced last week after he was named with Van-West Charles, his boss at GWI, as being a director of Atlantic Fuels Inc. That company was granted a fuel import and storage licence last November.
The revelation of the licences immediately raised concerns, with questions asked if Van-West Charles’ connection to the Coalition Government was what tipped the company that applied.
In late September, applications were filed with the Guyana Energy Agency (GEA) for the licences. The licences were issued five weeks later.
In October, Van-West Charles became the Chief Executive of GWI. Shortly after, he hired Goring, his business partner, to head the Debt Recovery Unit.
The GWI head had come under fire last year for the hiring of Goring and another ‘friend’, Lance Mars. Both positions were reportedly not advertised.
Van-West Charles had reportedly said that both men were known to him personally.
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