Gov’t ignores concerns, reappoints Director, members of Environmental Assessment Board for 3rd consecutive year

Feb 23, 2025 News

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Kaieteur News- Dr. Mahendra Sharma has been reappointed Chairman of the Environmental Assessment Board (EAB) by the Government of Guyana. Also reinstated to serve for a third consecutive year are Board members Mr. Joslyn McKenzie and Dr. Garvin Cummings.

According to a Gazetted Order, dated February 10, 2025, Cabinet considered a Memorandum presented by Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Governance, Gail Teixeira and approved the appointment of the Board of Directors for a period of one year, with effect from February 6, 2025 to February 5, 2026.

Dr. Sharma is the Chief Executive Officer of the Guyana Energy Agency (GEA), while McKenzie is Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Natural Resources. Dr. Cummings on the other hand is the Chief Hydrometeorological Officer.

The EAB is a mandatory body, required by the Environmental Protection Act in Section 18. It tasks the members of this board with the responsibility of conducting hearings into all appeals made by the public, regarding Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) and Environmental Impact Statements (EIS). It also says the Board may recommend whether an EIA should be rejected, amended, or accepted, whether a Permit should be issued by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and what terms and conditions should be included in the Permit.

In summary, this Board plays a critical role in approving projects that may impact the environment. Government projects are also subjected to the scrutiny of this process.

Previously, environmental activists protested against the appointment of Dr. Sharma and McKenzie to the EAB, citing conflict of interest issues with their respective jobs.

One activist, Simone Mangal-Joly had even brought her concerns to the President Irfaan Ali’s attention in a letter dated March 10, 2023.

Given the individual functions of the appointed members in their respective state-owned entities, she told the Head of State, “It is disappointing that rather than address the issues of conflicts of interest with government duties, you have doubled down and appointed a board with two of three members having direct conflicts of interest with their government duties.”

She went further to note that this decision is in fact a step backwards as the Board now lacks in its entirety any members with expertise in environmental protection, coupled with the fact that it is built with government representatives.

She reasoned that since the advent of oil production in Guyana, most of the matters brought before the EAB have had to do with projects directly related to areas within Dr. Sharma’s and Mr. McKenzie’s remit.

Mangal-Joly highlighted that Dr. Sharma is charged with overseeing the development of all types of energy projects in Guyana, including fossil fuel-based projects. He was previously Chairman and Director of the Guyana Power and Light Inc. (GPL); meanwhile, Mr. McKenzie’s Ministry has chief responsibility for promoting petroleum development.

She was keen to note that while these individuals are no doubt competent; their employment situation and government duties result in a glaring lack of separation of powers and present a high probability of conflict of interest in matters that come before the EAB.

These concerns led to a Court case being filed back in 2023 by rights activist, Danuta Radzik. It was subsequently thrown out, due to an error in the claim. Kaieteur News understands that Radik’s Lawyers were preparing to resubmit its claim.

This newspaper reported that High Court Justice, Fidela Corbin, upheld objections to the case which was filed for Judicial Review. She essentially agreed with the contention that the case could not stand since it was directed to Sharma and McKenzie in their individual capacities instead of the EAB. Lawyer for Sharma, Arudanauth Gossai  argued that the claim was misguided in that Judicial Review cases can only be brought against the decisions of public bodies or an officer performing a public function.  Mr. McKenzie who was represented by attorney Darshan Ramdhani made an identical submission to the Court.

The attorneys  reasoned that neither Sharma nor McKenzie can be called officers performing a public function since they are members of the EAB. According to Gossai the matter should have been brought against the EAB which is the public body that makes the decisions as a collective.

(Gov’t ignores concerns, reappoints Director, members of Environmental Assessment Board for 3rd consecutive year)

(Gov’t ignores concerns)

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• Board, CONCERNS, EAB, reappoints, Sharma

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