…. GWI ex-Debt Recovery Manager

ONE day after the Board of the Guyana Water Incorporated (GWI) decided to terminate his services as Debt Recovery Manager, Lear Goring has broken his silence, noting that he was not surprised at the decision.During an interview with online media, News Source, Goring said he believes the decision was “preordained,” and he was fired because he was going after “big companies” for billions owed to GWI.
“I was expecting that decision,” Goring said. A statement from GWI on Wednesday confirmed that Goring was sent on administrative leave pending investigations into reports that he was not qualified for the position of Debt Recovery Manager.
“The decision comes following a review of Mr. Goring’s credentials, which do not satisfy the requirements outlined for the position. It should also be noted that the decision taken was based solely on a review of his qualification for the job,” the GWI statement revealed.
Goring however stated that his termination was not due to a review of his credentials as the GWI statement said, but rather because of the manner in which he carried out his job as an agent of debt recovery for the company.
When recovering debts, he noted he was instructed to “not go after certain companies” and he complied with these orders that came via email from his superiors, because these matters were above his “pay grade.”
Mr. Goring also noted that he had received “anonymous phone calls” from persons demanding why debts were slated to be collected from them. He said due to this he “expected some kind of pressure.”
The main issue challenging GWI was debt, Goring noted and said he was recommended to the Managing Director as the man best suited for the job. He attributed his previous success in taking a company that “everybody has given up on” and “turned it around” can be linked to this recommendation.
He added that for a job of this manner, you would need “someone you can trust, a person uninvolved in skullduggery and political affairs and someone who isn’t easily tempted.”
He stated that when he applied for the position, his qualifications were substantial and he brought with him a wealth of experience working in similar positions in many countries in Africa. This, he attested, led to him being hired for the job.
According to Goring, GWI had about $5 Billion in debt when he assumed his role in the company and through his 10-month tenure, he had been able to recover about $1.8 billion in debt.
“There were some political elements within the process,” he said, when questioned about who he felt had an input in his termination. Meanwhile, GWI in a statement on Friday disputed its own figures, claiming that it did not rake in $1.8B in debt for the period October 2015 to July 2016.
During a press conference on August 10, 2016, the company had reported that it collected $1.8 Billion in arrears for the period ending July 2016, but the statement yesterday noted that after checks and verifications, it was found that the arrears collection figure up to July 2016 is $921,814,791.00.