Ministry of the Presidency, Georgetown, July 1, 2015
The Government has appointed a review committee to investigate the operations of the Iwokrama International Centre for Rainforest Conservation. This was announced by Minister of State, Hon. Joseph Harmon during his weekly post Cabinet press briefing.
Minister of Governance, Hon. Raphael Trotman, under whose portfolio the protection of national patrimony falls, sought and received Cabinet’s approval of a grant of US$100,000. This sum will be used to sustain the Centre’s work until September 2015. However, the results of the investigations by the review committee will be used to determine the future of Iwokrama.
The Minister said that the Centre’s financing is in a “sorry” state of affairs as it is unable to meet its operational expenses including the payment of staff. This committee will review the operations of the Centre recommend a way forward.
Secretary General of the Commonwealth, H.E. Kamalesh Sharma has indicated a willingness to support the development and implementation of a results-based management approach that is built on the original principle of a sustainable business model for the Centre.
The review committee will be chaired by Minister of Governance, Raphael Trotman and includes Major General Rtd. Joseph Singh and Clayton Hall from the Ministry of the Presidency; Chief Executive Officer of the Centre, Dane Gobin, Director of Resource Management at Iwokrama, Dr. Raquel Thomas, Vice-President of Conservation International, Dr. David Singh and Commissioner, Protected Areas Commission, Damian Fernandes.
Additionally, the Ministers of Tourism and Public Infrastructure along with representatives from the University of Guyana will also be involved in this process.
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