THE Ministry of Natural Resources has terminated the services of Rickford Vieira as Commissioner of the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC).In the interim Newell Dennison will continue to act as Commissioner of the GGMC.
According to a statement issued yesterday afternoon, the Ministry stated that it had acted on the recommendation of the Board of the GGMC.
In the statement , the Ministry said that it believes the move to terminate the services of Vieira was the best approach at this time, with a new Board of Directors of the Commission soon to be inducted.
According to the statement, the new Board members have the confidence of the Ministry to charter a new course for the GGMC which it said has been dogged by corruption allegations and a beleaguered public image for years.
The Ministry said that Vieira would have served the Commission for some years and it used the opportunity to wish him well in his future endeavours.
Last November, the GGMC Board moved a no-confidence motion against Vieira and several senior functionaries within the Commission following three thorough assessments. Subsequently Vieira received a letter from Minister of Natural Resources Raphael Trotman indicating that he should proceed on leave due to the filing of the motion.
GGMC Board Chairman Clinton Williams had explained to this newspaper at the time that the Board of Directors reconvened in September 2015 after a period of four months upon the instruction of the new APNU+AFC Government.
It was subsequently given three functions to execute, starting with assessing the performance of the Commission, based on decisions and actions taken by the Board.
In addition to rating the Commission’s performance, Williams explained that approval was granted by the government to complete a System Management Review which had commenced under the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Administration.
The exercise which commenced in December 2014 was designed to review the operations of the Mines Division and the Land Management and Geological Services Divisions of the Commission to determine the coherence of the structures and functions, and the flow of its operations.
The Board considered those review reports and subsequently passed a no-confidence motion against Vieira and some senior functionaries, Williams told this newspaper last November.
On receipt of the letter from Minister Trotman, Vieira fired back at the board, stating that the motion came as a shocker and he complained that the body never had reason to caution him.
He added that approximately three years ago the Commission had expressed its intention to digitalize its operation and as such had purchased the required equipment but the project came to halt due to a lack of support on the part of the Board.
Vieira indicated at the time that he was awaiting a substantive decision by Minister Trotman but maintained that it should be the board on trial and not him.