Concerns about the recently appointed EPA Director

Jan 29, 2021 Letters

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DEAR EDITOR,

Recently, Guyana’s EPA has come under increasing scrutiny and intensifying fire. Though I have been unsparing in my contributions, I try not to be unkind. Sharp, yes, unkind, definitely not. But because of the pivotal role that this entity plays, I must probe for some sanity through the swamp that the PPP government has entombed this country. It is unfortunate, but the microscope must include the sitting Director of Guyana’s EPA; it can’t be avoided.
I do something rare for me: I name someone: the director is Ms. Razack. I think that it is an acting appointment. That is usually the first sign of mischief; and the longer that such an acting situation persists, the greater the confirmation that political interference is afoot. More interestingly and worryingly, it is my understanding that Ms. Razack’s history has been that of journalist, and that her service at the EPA has been in that of senior responsibility for “Public Awareness”. That is impressive, and speaks well of Ms. Razack’s efforts, dedication, and the recognition(s) that came her way. I congratulate her for her longstanding service to Guyana’s public. But now, I must embark on another journey, which will cause some consternation on the part of the EPA incumbent, her political guides, and those who see only the partisan or discomforting in those who identify those positions that expose and could potentially devastate this land.
I must be frank, even risk sounding harsh. It is my position that Ms. Razack’s position as acting head (subject to correction) is having the wrong person in the wrong place at the wrong time. She is at sea and out of her depth. She is ill-prepared and ill-equipped for the vastly complex and challenging tasks at hand. I regret that His Excellency and the Hon. Vice President saw it fit to manufacture this visible and tangible sorcery to address Guyana’s crucial environmental priorities and obligations. I regret that Ms. Razack has been placed as a helpless (perhaps willing) pawn to follow the party line (leadership lines) by functioning like those three Japanese stone creatures of lore. The ones that see nothing, hear nothing, know nothing, and speak nothing. Yes, I took the liberty of adding another tragic figure.
The political bishops moving this hapless pawn around do this lady and this country a terrible injustice. They endanger us. I say this even though one smirks in his current elevation to bishop of Guyana, and the other fancies himself to be the Archbishop of the West Indies, if not the universe. There is nothing spiritual or remotely godly about those two; only what is diabolically clever and unhealthy for this society. For under her watch, and the directions of leading PPP spinners and weavers, there is no hazardous situation, no oil concerns that menace, no EIAs (en. impact assessment) necessary, absolutely nothing to worry about. It is how the head of the EPA, the EPA itself, and larger Guyana are all thrown to the dogs due to the machinations of two leaders lacking any compass, any credential, any credibility.
These two slick Guyanese leaders play this dangerous chess game that is counter to this country’s interests, the safety of its citizens, and its reputation, which is sure to rank high among polluters to be watched, possibly sanctioned. Standing powerlessly before the Frankenstein monster created by the fecund minds of the President and Vice President is the EPA head. Hers is the bull’s-eye that all aim at, though she is captive to leadership orchestrations. I feel for her, and regret that she cannot register her probable distaste for the dirty role that she has been assigned, and the decisions, which she must make. Meaning that, unlike some senior public servants in America, Guyana’s EPA head may be constrained by circumstances from telling her political manipulators to take the job and shove it where the sun doesn’t shine. In Guyana, public servants do not walk away, not with the harrowing conclusion that all doors would be slammed in their faces.
I do not know the EPA head: if she is a party functionary (answering the call); or a convenient public servant caught in a vise not of her making. But I know this: the longer she stays, and the more abominable her agency’s record, the worst her name will be, whenever the environment is mentioned. I wish her well and the best. I am weighing what I should wish for the leading political Hannibal Lectors here that disfigure peoples and prospects. On those, they are broadly bipartisan; must be the incentives of Exxon.

Sincerely,
GHK Lall

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