GWI board investigating CEO’s conduct after staff complaints

Following serious complaints by staff, including of interference and verbal abuse, the Board of the Guyana Water Inc (GWI) has launched an investigation into the actions of the corporation’s Chief Executive Officer Dr Richard Van West-Charles even as a Cabinet sub-committee is slated to meet with him and Board Chairman Nigel Hinds early next month. Stabroek News understands that senior staff members of GWI have tirelessly complained about the actions of the CEO, including him purportedly superseding the authority of various department heads and in one case even renaming a department without informing the person who was in charge of it.

There is also the issue of GWI’s intentions of using a substance to test water for household use and at least one manager believes it is unsafe. “There is the issue of abuse of authority and it still continues… [The] majority of GWI senior staff members have made some very serious complaints against the CEO,” Hinds told this newspaper when contacted. He confirmed that a Cabinet sub-committee is slated to meet with both him and Van WestCharles on October 6 in an attempt to resolve ongoing issues. Hinds, however, said “quite frankly” it is not clear how this could be done since the reports received are “very serious” and need to be addressed. He did not say what method the Board would be using to conduct the investigation.