Civil society must play bigger role in scrutinising govt. projects

Apr 01, 2022 News

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Kaieteur News – As a measure of good governance and transparency, Attorney at law Christopher Ram is adamant that the state must involve members of civil society into the decision making process.

The attorney insists that with the number of major projects on stream in Guyana, it would be instructive that a government committed to transparency would have no issue in allowing its peers within society to access and offer pertinent information regarding various developments.
Ram, was at the time addressing local transparency issues on the online talk show Globespan 24×7 when he suggested that it is not society’s job to be chasing after information from the government that would inform and enable citizens to add toward project discussions taking place in the country. Moreover, the attorney insisted, it is not the job of local professionals to be chasing after the government for information when it is clear that their input could be useful in ensuring better project outcomes.

“If something is positive, as professional’s we must be able to say that it’s positive.” Ram questioned reasons behind government withholding particular information on projects before explaining that civil society has genuine questions that contribute to not only transparency but the wellbeing of projects.
For instance, he mentioned, there are people who raised legitimate questions about the Amaila Falls Hydropower project and its cost. This project had raised many questions from civil society when the idea was proposed and being pursued by the then People’s Progressive Party Government. According to Ram, 10 years later, the project is a few hundred million dollars less. “In other words, people do have understanding, people do know.” He mentioned too that in the case of the Berbice Bridge project, matters such as cost recovery, is considered among the issues. He indicated that if civil society had been involved in the project, professionals whose names he highlighted could have had something valuable to add, regarding the cost recovery structure.
The accountant added that basic documents such as production statement, value of production, receipts, budget statements, cost recovery statement, “none of these things has been made available as far as I know to the public at large. Ram reiterated the importance of Article 13 of the Constitution which gives citizens the right to participate in the development of the country. To do that, Ram maintained that civil society, especially professionals would need the information to be released by the government.
“Let’s get serious we have major, major projects and I am not for or against these projects. I am waiting for a proper technical analysis and the disclosure,” Ram stated. The accountant said that if the government or its relevant agents could provide him with documents relating to the Amelia Falls project and the study gone into it, the gas to shore project, its analysis and study and the statements under the 2016 Petroleum agreement, he would very much welcome the information on which he would be able to have some input.
Government Parliamentarian and Attorney at law Sanjeev Datadin has however, rebuffed statements that civil society has the right to access government project documents. The Attorney who also appeared on the Globespan 24×7 talk show argued that some of the documents society is demanding are sensitive and valuable and as such, cannot be made public.
“These are the strange things we keep getting from persons who say they are civil society.” “You want us to share information about surveys that have been done, about studies that have been done to what end.” Datadin said that, “there is a misconception that the elected government must get the approval of everybody for every project.” This he said is nonsensical and not practical, much like the Article 13 claim by people urging their right to be consulted to give their approval on projects.
He said that in relation to Article 13 general elections, local government elections, the courts, tribunals and the minister’s officer are among outlets for civil society to address their concerns. “Not that you have a right to say on everything. What it (Article 13) gives you the right to do, is function in a democratic system where the political system must allow for people and the government and civil society.”
Datadin added that in large projects reports and data have value. If these are made public, the value of that information diminishes. He said too, that summarized versions of projects are made available but participants of the projects do not want their information to be made public. The government MP went on to say that where projects are concerned, persons bidding would have access to information. However, when asked about Guyana’s history with white elephants such as the Skeldon Sugar Factory where large amounts of money was spent and no value returned, Datadin said time will tell.

 

 

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