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Media could receive more oil info upon request – Minister Bharrat
By Kemol King
Minister of Natural Resources, Vickram Bharrat
Kaieteur News – Minister of Natural Resources, Vickram Bharrat, has said that the media could request the information it needs on oil and gas production and revenues. He made these comments on the sidelines of the opening of Vitality Accounting and Supplies, a new oil service company stationed at Providence, East Bank Demerara (EBD).
The government’s latest oil report on the fifth oil lift, released by Bharrat’s Ministry on Wednesday, vastly reduced the detail provided by the previous administration’s Ministry of Finance. Asked by Kaieteur News whether he is comfortable with the level of detail being provided, in light of government’s promise of transparency, Bharrat said that the government has no problem giving out information. He encouraged Kaieteur News to ask for the information it needs. He also encouraged Kaieteur News to rely on the Senior Minister in the Office of the President with responsibility for Finance, Dr. Ashni Singh, and the Vice President, Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo, to address some of the specific concerns about the reports and the issue of transparency.
The Minister said, “Actually, Finance Minister should be the best person to respond to that. Finance Minister should actually be the best person to respond to it because he’s dealing with reports and declaration and all that. But of course, we would do whatever is necessary to ensure that information is disseminated, and there is transparency and accountability. You know, since I took over I’ve always been saying that, and then our government has been saying that we will stick to what we campaigned on, and that is transparency and accountability in the sector. We would have highlighted that previously, Guyanese didn’t know, for example, about the signing bonus. People weren’t told so often as we’re doing it, how much money is in the natural resource fund. We’re doing that. We made a public statement yesterday on that. The day after we received the fifth payment, we made that public statement. So we’re not trying to withhold information from the public by any means. But once information is requested too, we’ll be willing to give also. So I don’t see that as a problem in terms of giving information to ensure that the sector is run in a transparent manner. So I know some of the issues can be dealt with better by Finance Minister, and also, VP will deal with some of the issues.”
Kaieteur News has been reporting on the lack of transparency in the management of the oil sector, for months, since the Irfaan Ali administration took office.
Vice President, Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo, had said on February 9, that reporters should request information. However, at least 10 consecutive attempts were made to get oil reports from the Ministry of Natural Resources in the month following the VP’s commitment. The requests were made for information for several months. The result of all of those requests was the release of a one-page document on Wednesday with block figures for each month.
In stark contrast, the report envisioned by former Finance Minister, Winston Jordan, provided pages of detailed information with several tables, in a January 2020 report.
“The regular publication of the [report],” Jordan had stated in the document, “will allow for greater transparency in this new sector of the economy, ensuring that the public is fully aware of the amount of petroleum being produced and revenues being generated. Such transparency is important, given the magnitude of revenues that will be generated from this resource.”
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