Open Letter to President Ali on Unfairness and Conflicts of Interest in the Newly Appointed Environmental Assessment Board

Mar 12, 2023 Letters

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Dear Editor,

Further to my letter of February 11, 2023, regarding our country’s lack of an independent Environmental Assessment Board (EAB), it is disappointing that rather than address the issues of conflicts of interest with government duties, you have doubled down and appointed a board with two of three members having direct conflicts of interest with their government duties. In addition, in a step backwards, the board is now entirely lacking any members with expertise in environmental protection, and it continues to lack non-governmental representation. How is this justifiable when Guyana has capable professional expertise in academia and elsewhere?

The Government of Guyana, Official Gazette, Legal Supplement B, February 10, 2023, names a three-member EAB. Two of these members, Dr. Mahender Sharma, and Mr. Joslyn McKenzie, have duties central to the promotion of oil and gas and associated energy projects. The third EAB member, Dr. Garvin Cummings is a senior staff member of the Ministry of Natural Resources who heads up the Hydro Met division.

As you are aware, since the advent of oil production in Guyana, most of the matters brought before the EAB have had to do with projects directly related to areas within Dr. Sharma’s and Mr. McKenzie’s remit. Dr. Sharma is named Chair of the EAB. He is the Head of the Guyana Energy Agency, which is charged with overseeing the development of all types of energy projects in Guyana, including fossil fuel-based projects. He was previously Chairman and is currently a Director of the Guyana Power and Light Inc. (GPL). Mr. McKenzie is the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Natural Resources – with this Ministry having chief responsibility for promoting petroleum development, publicly funded USD 2 billion plus Gas to Energy project.

While these individuals are no doubt competent, their employment situation and government duties result in an obvious lack of separation of powers and high probability of conflict of interest in matters that come before the EAB. This, in fact, is the situation unfolding in the matter of objections to the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) decision to waive an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for the 300MW Natural Gas Power Plant Project, which is an essential part of the Gas to Energy Project.

Project Proponents Running the Environmental Appeals Process

On January 7, the EPA announced that it had received an application for the construction of the power plant and was waiving the requirement for an EIA. It gave the public 30 days to appeal the decision to the EAB.

The applicant for the Power Plant Project is the Guyana Power and Gas Inc. The formal application documents submitted to the EPA, indicate that the application was made in conjunction with the GPL, which provided the Public Project Summary that is legally required as part of the application for an environmental permit. On page 14 of the application form, the applicant indicated that GPL was handing the consultancy for the Engineering, Procurement and Construction Request for Proposal (CPC RFC) for the Power Plant Project and that it would be able to provide information required in the application form when GPL made it available.  The Guyana Power and Gas Inc. will be the largest supplier of energy to GPL, which will have to co-develop infrastructure for feeding energy from the power plant into the existing grid. Additionally, Dr. Mahender Sharma’s wife, Mrs. Nadir-Sharma, is a Director of the Guyana Power and Gas Inc., the applicant.

Shortly after its constitution on Feb 10, 2023, the EAB published a notice indicating that it will hold a public hearing into objections to the EIA waiver for the Power Plant Project on March 22, 2023.

Here you have two of the project proponents who are duty bound to promote the project, one who is director of an agency directly involved in the application, presiding over the appeals process for the power plant. How can the EAB provide a fair hearing when two of its three members are in compromising situations? Even if Dr. Sharma and Mr. McKenzie were to recuse themselves, which they clearly have not done to date, how could their main EAB member, Dr. Garvin Cummings, also a government employee, serve as sole adjudicator?

The EAB is an appeals body that has a sacred function and legal duty to be impartial in its consideration of matters. The Environmental Protection Act mandates that members must be unencumbered by conflicting loyalties and duties. Without this, there can be no public trust and confidence in the impartiality of the body or transparency and accountability in the decision-making process.  Lack of trust in fairness of the EAB’s decisions can feed conflicts and lead to lack of stability and predictability in the country’s environmental management system. This can not only adversely affect public interest but also investor interest, as companies can be exposed to legal and stakeholder risks.

Gap Between What You Say is Your Commitment to Good Governance and What You Do

When I appealed to you on February 11^th, 2023, to constitute an independent EAB, it was with every confidence that you are genuine when you say that you are committed to the rule of law, transparency, accountability, democratic governance, and positive development for our country.  Yet, evident here is a gap between what you say and what you do.

Your decision to appoint members with conflicts of interest to the EAB and to exclude non-governmental and suitably qualified environmental professionals sends a message to citizens and potential investors that the government is not committed to good governance and protecting the environment, and instead may prioritize business and special interests over public health and safety.  You have missed an instance for positive development into a nation where government acts with propriety to fulfill its duty to protect the public interest and create a stable and predictable investment climate for businesses.

I urge you to reconsider your decision and appoint government and non-government members to the EAB who are free from conflicts of interest and have proven qualifications and commitment to sound environmental management. This will help create a stable and predictable context for investors, protect the public interest, and enhance the government’s reputation for good governance.

Thank you for your attention to this important matter.

Yours sincerely,

Simone Mangal-Joly

Citizen & Environment and Democracy Advocate

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• Dr. Mahender Sharma, Environmental Assessment Board (EAB), Ministry of Natural Resources, President Ali, Simone Mangal-Joly

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