This government had adopted Jagdeo’s secrecy mentality

Sep 10, 2017 Letters

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Dear Editor,
It is now public knowledge that some of the major contracts or business deals inked by the PPP/C regime contained secrecy clause. These include the Berbice Bridge, Sanata Complex, Marriot Hotel etc. The “petroleum exploration and production agreement” framed in 1986 by the
Hoyte Government had a secrecy clause. “Subject to subsection (2), no information furnished, or information in a report submitted, pursuant to this Act by a licensee shall be disclosed to any person who is not a Minister, a public officer or an employee of the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission except with the consent of the licensee.” These words were added by the PPP/C in 1997. They show that the PPP/C had sinister intentions long before we struck oil. Denying that would entail denying the secrecy clauses in Berbice
I can understand a ‘pork knocker’ locating a significant gold deposit on a piece of “no man’s land” and wants to keep it a secret. History on gold rush is saturated with stories of men discovering large deposits and were robed or bullied out of their find by other men or companies. It is difficult to
comprehend a Government entrusted to administer the business of an independent State adding a secrecy clause to an existing agreement with the intent of withholding information from the citizens long before oil would have been found in the realm of that state.
To add injury to insult, they deterred the breach of that clause by a “fine of seventy-five thousand dollars and imprisonment for three years” as penalty. I have never heard of a precedent where an oil company was robbed of its find by any of its competitor by virtue of “striking oil”, becoming public knowledge to all oil companies or the citizens (the legal owners) of the country where the oil is found.
On the contrary; there are instances where people in governments had colluded with oil companies to deprive citizens of their oil wealth and where oil companies had deprived nations of benefits from their resources because of bad agreements. The present draft policy states that the petroleum resources of Guyana belong to all its citizens, (when could this have been any different?) and represents an asset of intrinsic value which once removed, diminishes the wealth of the nation. Was this such an alien concept to the PPP/C in 1997? It seems as if they had a vision in which they saw Exxon as a colluder – considering that the Liza find was declared just a few days before the 2015 elections by Exxon.
Despite public outcry for information on the present oil deal with Exxon and the APNU/AFC Government, the coalition, citing the “secrecy clause” added to the 1986 agreement in 1997 by the Jagdeo regime for not revealing information is no less guilty of conspiracy. I have not heard Jagdeo give any logical explanation for the secrecy clause except for saying that no oil company will walk away from its find if the government reveals the contract with Exxon and in the same press conference he advocated that any Government must honor contracts made by their predecessor. Grossly ludicrous!
Previously, he had said that Government had two years to draft a “sovereign wealth fund” (SWF) and that they are behaving as if it is a” herculean task”. Ironically he proposed that he could set up one
(SWF) in one month with the appropriate separation of the political from the “people’s interest.” Shameless hypocrisy! Why was this such an alien concept to Jagdeo in 1997 when amending the petroleum exploration and production agreement with a secrecy clause? Secrecy seems to be a disease that afflicts politicians only while in power- Jagdeo was the architect of “secrecy clause” while in power.
The APNU/AFC despite all its promises of transparency and accountability while in opposition became infected as soon as it got into power- secrecy seems to be synonymous with power. The coalition has amassed its fair share of atrocities over its two years in power. Having spent millions on COIs they have not revealed the findings and recommendations of those COIs The rulership style of the Coalition has taken on a dogmatic approach.
Imagine 14000 signatures to recall the VAT on private education. The refusal to allow more consultation on the amendment to the broadcasting bill despite calls to do so from various free press advocates. The refusal to give the tobacco company a hearing on their concerns on the tobacco bill saying that the nation’s health is more important than the company’s concern are just a few instances where what is written cannot be changed and have to be carried out. It seems that they are of the opinion that going back on anything they had done in haste would make them look ignorant in the eyes of the people, unaware of the increasing resentment they are creating for themselves in the hearts of the people.
The coalition’s obsession with secrecy runs deep. They muster the audacity to tell the people that the oil agreements with Exxon should be kept secret because of National Security reasons. They would never answer how, where and in what way any oil contract can compromise national security because they have adopted the stance that they are not obligated to answer to the people.
Rudolph Singh

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