Ex-President Donald Ramotar moves to court over oil blocks giveaway

Jun 27, 2019 News

Former President Donald Ramotar has moved to the courts against National Media and Publishing Company, Publisher Glenn Lall, and Editor-in Chief Adam Harris.
He is seeking an injunction against the named defendants and threatening libel for the publication of some advertisements over the award of the Kaieteur and Canje oil blocks. These blocks were awarded to two companies with no known experience in oil exploration in deep water.
At the time of the publication, only two companies globally are known to operate in deep water—ExxonMobil and Petrobras.
The action sparked news items critical of the actions by the Ramotar administration. It also caused people to examine the similarities between the action by the Ramotar administration and Senegal. Both countries allocated oil blocks to companies with no known experience in the oil industry.
In Senegal, the oil blocks were signed away to a convicted drug lord; in Guyana, the owners of the drug blocks were unknown until the newspaper tracked down the contracts.
The result was a series of advertisements highlighting the similarities between Guyana and Senegal with respect to the oil blocks.
Kaieteur Radio went further. It rebroadcast the investigative reporting by the BBC on the Senegal oil blocks and the corruption that ensnared the President, Macky Sall, and his brother. The advertisement concluded that the situation in Senegal mirrored Guyana’s.
There were other newspaper advertisements. One likened the distribution of the two oil blocks, both of them in close proximity to the proven large oil basin in the Stabroek Block. The second advertisement made it known that sections of the oil blocks were sold to a more aggressive oil explorer.
This act yielded millions of dollars to people who, according to the newspaper, were gifted precious state assets.
Another advertisement on the issue highlighted the impact of the ‘give away’ of the oil blocks.
In his lawsuit, Ramotar is claiming that the contents of the newspaper advertisements are false and malicious. He further claims that his reputation and his character as a public figure, a husband and a father, have been ‘immeasurably damaged”.
Ramotar claims that because of the publications, he is suffering “public humiliation, ridicule, anguish, pain and suffering.” He wants damages in excess of $10 million for three of the publications. He also wants interest on any damages awarded to him.
For their part, the defendants propose to defend the action vigorously. They have already instructed their lawyers to challenge the application for injunction, a tool used by people wishing to silence the media in the face of disclosures.
The matter is fixed for hearing on July 2, next, before Justice Sandil Kissoon.

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Ex-President Donald Ramotar moves to court over oil blocks giveaway

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