Govt. under pressure to release key documents on oil sector

May 05, 2022 News

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– Minister Vickram Bharrat says “there’s nothing to hide”

Kaieteur News – Despite the failure of government officials to make good on promises to release certain information to the media relating to the oil and gas sector, Minister of Natural Resources Vickram Bharrat has said that government has nothing to hide and believes that the administration is making the right moves to inform the country about the emerging multi-trillion dollar industry.

The Minister made those comments when asked by this newspaper whether the government will be making any move soon to not only release more information to the nation, but to also conduct effective oil and gas education drives. “I think that is what we have been doing all the time, whenever we speak we disclose a lot of information,” the Minister responded. He said that on the Natural Resources Ministry’ website, there is lots of information that the public can access. These include information about production and permits among other items. The Minister identified the Natural Resource Fund (NRF) as another area where information could be found. He said that pertaining to the oil revenue; the NRF has a rigorous structure and allows for scrutiny by the Auditor General and the Public Accounts Committee (PAC).
“So there is nothing to hide and yes, we need to educate Guyanese a lot more. I would not say that is 100 percent.” The Minister highlighted that, “All of us need to (be educated on oil and gas).” Especially, the media since news outlets “can do it better than some us because you have a wider reach, and it’s good you educate the people about oil and gas.”
Minister Bharrat’s comment comes just before Guyana scored “fairly low” on the Norway-based Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) in implementing its 2019 EITI Standard. The standard says that open data on natural resource income and contracts should be routine in government and corporate reporting. Providing timely information to stakeholders in a format that supports widespread use in analysis and decision making is also part of the process. It was noted that the score reflects an ad hoc approach to outreach and dissemination, weaknesses in follow-up on EITI recommendations to deliver reforms and insufficient attention to the annual review of outcomes and impact, with a view to informing the annual EITI work plan. Guyana was also flagged for failure to make contracts, industry receipts accessible and understandable.
Members of the Guyana Press Association (GPA) have also registered their dismay over government’s approach to oil and gas education and the dissemination of information. On a recent Kaieteur News Radio program Guyana’s Oil and You, GPA president Nazima Raghubir along with other reporters expressed disappointment that post 2020 elections, the level of information dissemination has not significantly increased.
“The most you can do is provide the public with the information let them see what is going on and let them make their own informed decisions,” Raghubir had mentioned. It was noted that instead, information that should be easily accessed by the public must be requested where the identity of the individual and the use of the information must be stated. Another reporter opined that there is a lack of respect for the questions that reporters ask, and the job they must perform in informing the nation and keeping the politicians accountable. Veteran Journalist Adam Harris had noted during an online show that Guyanese had become so accustom to limited information and being left out of the decision-making process that they had little interest in the oil and gas topic. A recent International Republican Institute report (IRI) also said that a large portion of persons within the population is in the dark about oil and gas as they did not know where to locate information on the sector. And despite the great potential of oil revenue on the development of the country, only two percent of those involved in the IRI study believed that the oil and gas sector is an important matter.
It was observed that, at a number of government outreaches that recently occurred, there had been very little interest in the oil and gas sector given that little to no conversations came from residents regarding this area. At the most recently concluded outreach by Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo in Dundee, Mahaicony, East Coast Demerara, it was noted that the VP spoke just over half an hour about the oil sector. Again no questions were asked by residents in relation to the commodity and how they would be affected by it.
Noticed at the May Day rally of the Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Guyana (FITUG), workers were disinterested in talks of oil and gas. FITUG’s President Carvil Duncan sought to speak on the matter during his address, but that was met with a loud resistance from workers who shouted, “We nah want hear bout dah, we want money.” Workers shouted, “What oil? Whe it deh? We want money.” The FITUG president had to abort the topic during his contribution.
On one of the documents promised by the government, VP Bharrat Jagdeo said that the Minister of Natural Resources and President Irfaan Ali should honour their promise and make controversial Canadian lawyer, Alison Redford’s work on ExxonMobil’s projects public. The VP said he had not made the promise to release the document, but those who did, should honour their promise.

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