Jagdeo commits to releasing records of all oil sector negotiations

Jan 24, 2020 News

General Secretary of the People’s Progressive Party (PPP), Bharrat Jagdeo, has assured that should the party retake office through a victory in the March 2, 2020 General Election, it will ensure that all negotiations pertinent to the development and management of the Petroleum industry are brought to the light.

PPP General Secretary, Bharrat Jagdeo

This assurance, the former President made during a press conference at the Office of the Opposition Leader yesterday.
In response to a question posed by Kaieteur News, Jagdeo said that those disclosures will not be relegated to just the current Government but negotiations executed by former PPP Governments.
“Not just those that are signed by [Minister of Natural Resources, Raphael] Trotman but even those that were signed under the PPP.”
This, he explained, would fall into the PPP’s plan to re-examine most of the oil contracts, bringing them into conformity with an upgraded model contract structure.
There have been brow-raising occurrences under both administrations over the years.
Jagdeo already has agreed that email correspondences between government and officials and oil companies related to negotiations for the sale of Guyana’s oil should be made public. .
There have been more than a few unseemly occurrences under both administrations.
Kaieteur News has been on the forefront of exposing how the global Petroleum industry is, due to its lucrative nature, riddled with instances of corruption, bribery and large scale theft.
Some of those cases have been uncovered through leaked emails and other records. Hence, there has been some discourse about how the publication of local records could foster transparency in the sector and bring to light any instances of corruption which may have transpired.