[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]
DAM-L Water conservation expert axed from SA's DWAF/LS (fwd)
----- Forwarded message from Liane Greeff -----
Return-path: <owner-irn-safrica@netvista.net>
Received: from DaVinci.NetVista.net (mjdomo@mail.netvista.net [206.170.46.10])
by lox.sandelman.ottawa.on.ca (8.8.7/8.8.8) with ESMTP id MAA03858
for <dianne@sandelman.ottawa.on.ca>; Fri, 31 Aug 2001 12:29:43 -0400 (EDT)
Received: [by DaVinci.NetVista.net (8.10.0/8.8.8) id f7VGPuf28715
for irn-safrica-list; Fri, 31 Aug 2001 09:25:56 -0700 (PDT)
(envelope-from owner-irn-safrica@netvista.net)]
Received: [from [192.168.1.99] ([205.178.127.217])
by DaVinci.NetVista.net (8.10.0/8.8.8) with ESMTP id f7VGPqm28703
for <irn-safrica@netvista.net>; Fri, 31 Aug 2001 09:25:52 -0700 (PDT)
(envelope-from lori@irn.org)]
X-Sender: lori@pop3.netvista.net
Message-ID: <p05010402b7b56a7268d9@[192.168.1.99]>
Date: Fri, 31 Aug 2001 09:23:51 -0700
To: irn-safrica@netvista.net
From: Liane Greeff <liane@kingsley.co.za> (by way of Lori Pottinger)
Subject: Water conservation expert axed from SA's DWAF/LS
Sender: owner-irn-safrica@netvista.net
Precedence: bulk
An edited version of this appeared in the Cape Times 31 August 2001
MELANIE GOSLING
Environment Writer
GUY Preston, the man who set up South Africa's progressive national water
campaign and the successful Working for Water project, has been axed as an
advisor to Minister of Water Affairs and Forestry Ronnie Kasrils.
Sources say the move was the result of conflict within the department
between those with progressive and conservative attitudes to national water
management.
Preston will still head the internationally-acclaimed Working for Water
project, which has resulted in vast areas of water-guzzling alien
vegetation being removed from water catchment areas.
A spokesman for Kasrils said yesterday: "The minister has decided not to
renew Dr Preston's contract based on advice from the Minister of Public
Service and Administration, Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi, because payment for
his role as advisor was being funded by a non-government programme. This
funding mechanism could have possibly given rise to a conflict of
interests."
Preston's salary was part-funded by WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature), which
also funds advisors to the Minister of Education and the Minister of Land
Affairs.
WWF spokesperson Ronel Beukes said yesterday neither of the other two
advisors had been axed.
"WWF paid for advisors to three ministers because they were cash-strapped.
We don't believe there was any conflict of interests and we're very sorry
to hear that Guy has been removed," she said.
Liane Greeff of Environmental Monitoring Group's water justice programme in
Southern African said Preston's axing was a blow to progressive water
management in South Africa.
"Guy was a sane voice in a department of conventional thinkers. He stood
for sustainable water management against those who simply believed in
building more dams. His being axed flies in the face of what we're trying
to achieve in the run-up to the World Summit," she said.
Preston declined to comment.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
To unsubscribe from this list, send a message to majordomo@netvista.net
with no subject and the following text in the body of the message
"unsubscribe irn-safrica".
----- End of forwarded message from Liane Greeff -----