THE Board of Directors of the National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited has made a unanimous decision to appoint Mr. Horace James as substantive Chief Executive Officer who was acting in the capacity as Officer- in- Charge of the organisation since January 2016. James,who held the position as Head of the Linmine Secretariat and CEO of the Linden Electricity Company, was appointed to NICIL on a temporary basis following the departure of Winston Brassington who was sent on administrative leave pending an audit investigation by Special Organized Crime Unit (SOCU). Brassington was being investigated over a number of projects NICIL had engaged in under his watch, including the Marriott Hotel and the Berbice River Bridge Project
According to a release the Board of Directors made the decision at the meeting held last Friday to appoint James as CEO. “In the last few months, the technical and management skills and experience of the fourteen (14) external and internal candidates were evaluated by both the Board and independent accessors and, finally, Mr. James emerged as the most suitable, in the circumstances,” the release stated.
James,who holds a degree in mining from a UK university,served in the position of Head of Linmine Secretariat for 16 years as well as in several managerial positions in the bauxite plant. He also served as the first Regional Chairman. Apart from the aforementioned appointments, Mr. Horace James played an integral role in the establishment of the Linden Museum as he possesses a wide array of knowledge on the history of the town especially as it relates to bauxite mining. He also served as a Director of the Linden Technical Institute and also of the Linden Community Development which started in 1970.
Also being appointed as Head of the Linmine Secretariat was Mr. Emmet Alves who took up James’ position on an unconfirmed basis in January 2016. Linmine is a subsidiary of NICIL and deals with engineering and environmentally related projects, including the Mackenzie Wismar bridge in Linden. Alves is a UG and Russia trained mining engineer and, since 2003, had been responsible for executing or managing a number of Linmine projects.