GWI board probing CEO’s conduct after staff complaints

‘The majority of GWI senior staff members have made some very serious complaints’ – Board Chairman Nigel Hinds

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 West-Charles 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.

The Board recently was forced to terminate the employment of Debt Recovery Manager Lear Goring because he was not qualified for the position. Goring, who is a convicted drug felon, is a friend of the CEO and was hired without the position being advertised.

Apart from Goring, James King, another close friend of Van West-Charles, has been employed as deputy security officer without the post being advertised. It is understood that the position is not in the established structure of GWI. Sources expressed disquiet after King was employed shortly after he had accompanied Van West-Charles on an outreach to Berbice and was introduced as the friend of the CEO.

Hinds, speaking to Stabroek News from the United States yesterday, said that he would address the investigation publicly because as he sees it he is “speaking to the public board of Guyana” that expects leadership of him as Board Chairman.

“As GWI Chairman, I have an obligation to ensure that all staff of the GWI are fairly and respectfully treated. With few exceptions, the reports I have received indicate that Dr Van West-Charles is constantly acting in a tyrannical and vindictive manner towards the executive directors and senior managers employed at GWI,” he said.

Stabroek News has seen at least on correspondence where a senior manager complained bitterly about being called “unwilling, deaf and cantankerous” whenever she disagrees with the CEO in meetings and she described the name calling as “highly offensive, [and] completely unprofessional.

“I no longer feel free to express my opinions and contribute to the discussions,” the staff member said.

There is also the issue of the corporation’s Scientific Services Department being renamed Water Quality without the head of the department being informed and of the CEO interacting with an officer below the head and giving him instruction and even sending him on a trip overseas. It was pointed out that the department head has no issue with the change but rather with how it was done.

According to the correspondence, the constant undermining by the CEO has “caused a lack of focus within the department and has caused other staff members to question the stability of the department,” with some expressing confusion with respect to the department.

Legal obligations

Hinds also confirmed that the CEO has sought legal advice on how the board has been operating and has copied the legal

opinion in correspondence to him.

This matter came up after the CEO turned up at a closed-door board meeting even though he was told that he was not invited and he had to be asked by the Chairman three times to leave the meeting before he finally exited. It was pointed out that the CEO is not a gazetted board member and therefore does not have a right to be at board meetings.

Another issue the CEO sought legal advice on was the insistence by the Board Chair that he had an obligation to inform the GWI board about companies where he sits as board director.

One such company is the Atlantic Fuel Inc, which was granted a licence to import and sell fuel. Van West-Charles has pointed out that he had been a director of the company “long before” he joined the water corporation. “…Nothing has occurred since I joined GWI. This is long before I joined GWI,” he has declared.

Hinds yesterday said that apart from Atlantic Fuel Inc, Van West-Charles has admitted that he sits as a director of another company. Hinds, however, said he has been informed that there are other companies on whose boards he sits as director. It was the Chairman’s attempt to confirm this information that saw the CEO getting the legal opinion, which basically indicated that he was under no obligation to provide the information since he was appointed to the companies’ boards before he became CEO.

However, Hinds disagreed with that position as he pointed out that should GWI enter into business arrangements with any of the said companies, then the issue of conflict of interest would surface. “I am dealing with someone who is not being objective,” Hinds said.

Antinfek

Meanwhile, there are also some serious concerns about GWI using a substance called Antinfek, which was procured to be used for disinfection at different locations.

Stabroek News was told that the head of the Scientific Services Department disagreed with the choice and online information suggests that the product has failed to gain certification by the National Sanitation Foundation (NSF).

It was pointed out that the trademark application made has had a status of abandoned since December, 2006, as the applicant failed to file a ‘statement of use’ and therefore the information on the product label is insufficient and incomplete.

It is understood that GWI has been unable to source the equipment to test Antinfek and therefore the department cannot monitor its use. Further, research suggests that it was not recommended for approval for household water treatment distribution in Haiti, it is not registered with Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for treating drinking water nor has it demonstrated its ability to meet the World Health Organisation (WHO) limited protection microbiological performance target.