Latest update December 4th, 2024 2:40 AM
No meeting of all important Parliamentary watchdog on the oil sector for three years
Kaieteur News – The Natural Resource Committee, a Parliamentary Sectoral Committee where members of the Opposition can have some of their concerns for the oil and gas industry raised, has failed to meet for three years.
This is according to Partnership for National Unity and Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) Member of Parliament (MP), David Patterson. Patterson noted that during 2015 – 2020, the Committee functioned fully. He said that MPs from the People Progressive Party Civic (PPPC) who were in Opposition at the time were able to summon Exxon to question them about their operations.
Minister of Natural Resources, Vickram Bharrat
He said, “In Parliament, there is a sectoral standing committee called the Natural Resources Committee, it is made up of nine members, and the Government has five members and the Opposition four members. Oil and Gas are considered to be Natural Resource that falls under this Committee. The Chairman of the Committee is the Minister of Natural Resources, [Vickram Bharrat]- no meeting can be called unless called by the Chairman. Sadly, the Natural Resources Committee has never met since the PPP returned to office (in August 2020).”
According to Patterson, the reason for this has been simply because the PPP Government has been using its one-seat majority in the House, to control various aspects of the parliamentary work. Similarly, APNU+AFC Member of Parliament (MP), Shurwayne Holder, bemoaned the fact that the important committee has not met in three years. He told Kaieteur News as a result, he had made a request to have the oil issues raised at the level of the Economic Services Committee—a Parliamentary Sectoral Committee on which he sits and the Opposition has rotational Chairmanship.
“I had made a request when I was Chairman of the Economic Services Committee to have oil issues included at the Economics Committee because a lot of the oil issues are economics-based but my request was not ever addressed,” Holder said.
The concerns were also highlighted by the Chairperson of the Alliance for Change (AFC), Catherine Hughes.
Last November, Hughes told Reporters, “Despite the rancor that permeates the discussions of the House, there continues to be some unresolved deficiencies, and we lament that their mere existence suggests that the Speaker is unwilling to tackle these defects.”
For instance, the former Minister had explained that the functioning of Parliamentary Committees is the foundation of facilitating scrutiny of all areas of Government policy and administration. “It is through these Committees that we can guarantee the opportunity for all sides of the House to participate, discuss issues of national importance, facilitate robust discussion, and most importantly strive to achieve consensus on national issues in the best interest of the Country,” she added.
Given this laudable expectation, the Party said it finds it “reprehensible and unacceptable” that the Parliamentary Sectoral Committees are comatose or have never seen the light of day more than two years later. Furthermore, the Alliance for Change complained, “the fact that the Speaker has been too busy with his many various overseas trips to deal with these serious transgressions and get his real work done – is alarming and most unfortunate.”
While the Committees have not been meeting, the Opposition party also pointed out that the 12th Parliament holds the record in Guyana’s history for striking out and disallowing key motions of high priority, such as the ones on the high cost of living, massive flooding resulting in loss of income and damage to property, and others. Additionally, “Questions to the House continue to be butchered, not edited, and often lack a timely response. All this is in addition to the infrequent sittings which indirectly silence debate on important issues, as for example, private members day –which occurs every fourth sitting when Opposition issues are examined, can take months now to come around,” Hughes noted.
- Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) Member of Parliament (MP), David Patterson, Minister of Natural Resources, Natural Resource Committee, Parliamentary Sectoral Committee, Vickram Bharrat
Similar Articles
THE BLUNT OF THE DAY
Sports
Features/Columnists
Deeply concerned about political dysfunction in society
Dear Editor The Guyana Trades Union Congress (GTUC) is deeply concerned about the political dysfunction in society that is... more
Haiti: Tragically Descending into Deeper Crisis
By Sir Ronald Sanders Kaieteur News- As gang violence spirals out of control in Haiti, the limitations of international... more
Weekend Cartoon
