Less than satisfactory health conditions and a recent fire at the University of Guyana (UG) have resulted in the resignation of two top officials of Transparency Institute of Guyana Inc. (TIGI).

The anti-corruption watchdog announced Wednesday afternoon that its President Calvin Bernard and first Vice President Ayana McCalman have resigned effective as of December 1, 2015.

"Bernard and McCalman had served within the capacity of the respective positions following their appointment at TIGI’s June 8 Annual General Meeting this year.They have both been long standing members of the organization and continue to be part of the general membership," said the organisation in a statement.

Bernard has served on the Board since July 2013. As a Director he has contributed significantly to the general work of the organization and on the natural resource and environment sectors. He served as TIGI’s point person on the EU-FLEGT negotiations process and the EITI. As President, Bernard contributed meaningfully to promoting the vision of TIGI and has well represented the organisation on issues of governance and transparency.

TIGI said he took a decision to resign from the TIGI Board prematurely to attend to personal health issues and to give attention to the recovery process at the Faculty of Natural Sciences following the fire of Tuesday 24 November 2015.

That fire destroyed institutional as well as personal resources, and as Dean of the affected Faculty, Bernard now faces the challenge of leading the recovery process while attempting personal recovery having lost his own teaching and research material. He has nonetheless committed to continue to provide support to the work of the Institute," said the non-governmental organisation.

This was McCalman’s second appointment to the TIGI Board having served a previous term. She had been responsible TIGI’s current strategic planning process but, according to the organisation, she  has had to leave the Board to attend to personal health matters.

TIGI now comes under the stewardship of Rev. Compton Meerabux, appointed President, and Mr. Christopher Ram, appointed First Vice President.

TIGI thanks Mr. Bernard and Ms. McCalman for their contributions to the organization through their tireless work while on its Board and wishes them well in the future.