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GRA prefers to issue press releases rather than host press conferences – Jagdeo
Kaieteur News – Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo told reporters on Thursday that the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) may prefer to issue press releases rather than hold press conferences to answer some of the burning questions surrounding the management of Guyana’s oil and gas sector.
The VP was at the time responding to a question from the Kaieteur News as to when exactly the GRA would host a long overdue press engagement which he had announced earlier.
According to Jagdeo, the GRA may be reluctant to meet the press since it is a technical agency, and as such, it would prefer to work through press releases.
Jagdeo noted, “I don’t have any issue with the Commissioner General speaking to the public and this is my public position on these matters, if he chooses to stay silent it’s because he has some fiduciary responsibilities and he can’t speak about some issues, not everything is for the news, people tax records, how you approach certain things, they have professional ethics too, sometimes the newspapers…sometimes don’t understand that the need to know sometimes need to be tempered by the professional ethics of these bodies.”
Vice President, Bharrat Jagdeo
The VP had previously stated that he believes that the GRA as the technical agency must address the public on matters concerning issues such as the audits of Exxon Mobil Guyana’s expenses as well as the GRA’s staff shortage to in relation to conducting the audits.
During a press conference in early September, Jagdeo had said that Commissioner General of the GRA, Godfrey Statia will be solely responsible for addressing the current human resource shortage at the agency’s Petroleum Unit, as the government will not be intervening.
In this instance, the VP said that the GRA boss informed him that the vacant spots were advertised locally and internationally, however, the remuneration sought by the skilled auditors was “very high.” Jagdeo said he informed Statia that this should be discussed if it hampers the work of the agency.
According to Jagdeo, “He is going to deal with this matter and the reason I want him at the technical level to deal with matters surrounding audit is that I made it clear that as politicians we want to stay away from any issue dealing with audits.”
GRA Commissioner General, Godfrey Statia
The Vice President explained that while the government is concerned about the lengthy timeline to complete oil audits, it is focused on ensuring that there is adherence to the Local Content provisions. He, however, made it clear that the government will not be stepping in.
“We don’t want to give directions in relation to audits which is an entirely technical matter because it would seem if we intervene, it would seem we are favouring one party or another and this is not how audits are done and so that is why he (Statia) should deal with it purely from a technical perspective and our position remains the same.”
On July 31, 2023, during a Public Accounts Committee (PAC) meeting, Statia informed the Parliamentary Committee that the Petroleum Unit, tasked with conducting audits of oil companies, was lacking half of the staff required for the job. He pointed out that the agency has 31 on roll while 65 persons are required for the job.
ExxonMobil’s US$1.6 billion expenses between 1999 and 2017. Meanwhile, another audit that was signed in 2022 for the oil company’s US$7.3 billion expenditure, racked up between 2018 and 2020 is yet to be finalized.
Jagdeo previously explained that while the auditors have wrapped up the review, the iterative process between the GRA and the oil company has been stalling the completion.
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