Subjudice excuse by the EPA to hide Exxon’s US$2B oil spill guarantee a false narrative - Shadow Natural Resources Minister

Subjudice excuse by the EPA to hide Exxon’s US$2B oil spill guarantee a false narrative – Shadow Natural Resources Minister

Jan 29, 2024 News

Shadow Minister of Natural Resources, Shurwayne Holder

…says Datadin should apologise for misleading nation

Kaieteur News – Shadow Minister of Natural Resources, Shurwayne Holder is calling on Attorney-at-Law and Member of Parliament (MP), Sanjeev Datadin to apologise to the nation over what he believes is an act of deception.

Datadin in the National Assembly last week encouraged Holder and citizens of Guyana to “walk into” the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to view a copy of the US$2 billion oil spill guarantee reportedly lodged by the operator of the Stabroek Block, ExxonMobil.

He said, “They (the EPA) are required to keep a register, a ledger of all those documents submitted and it is available for anyone, including the Honourable Member Mr. Shurwayne Holder to go to their office between normal business hours and he will be allowed to see it.”

However, when a journalist attached to this newspaper visited the agency’s Ganges Street, Sophia, Georgetown office, on Thursday, it was explained that a formal request would first be required. The EPA, the following day, informed via a public statement, that the document would not be made public until the Court makes a decision.

It said, “…the matter in question is subjudice, meaning that it is currently under judicial consideration. Therefore, until a judgment is given by the court, the EPA will not make the said document public.”

Holder in an invited comment told this newspaper that the EPA’s response is not only highly alarming but very disappointing.
The Member of Parliament(MP) argued that the government has demonstrated yet again that it will continue to put the interest of the oil companies first and against the interest of Guyana. He noted, “Any patriotic government would be transparent with regards to any measure that is meant to safeguard the people of Guyana…the government is being very deceptive on this issue, which make me very anxious with regards to whether or not the US$2B (guarantee) has actually been lodged.”

“As I understand it, the US$2B guarantee is not the substantive matter in the courts. The provision of a full parent company guarantee is what is being decided upon. So, the issue of it being subjudice is a false narrative now being generated by the government…surely as their attorney, Datadin would have known whether or not making the document public would have legal implications.” – MP Shurwayne Holder

Holder said this development makes it even more urgent for the EPA to release the document.
He zeroed in on the response of the agency, arguing that it is a false narrative. The Shadow Natural Resources Minister reasoned, “As I understand it, the US$2B guarantee is not the substantive matter in the courts. The provision of a full parent company guarantee is what is being decided upon. So, the issue of it being subjudice is a false narrative now being generated by the government.”

Holder went on to point out, “The EPA’s own lawyer in the matter, Sanjeev Datadin stood in the Parliament during the budget debate and told the Parliament, and the people of Guyana, that any citizen can walk into the Environmental Protection Agency and view the document.

You can’t have your lawyer say that any citizen can see it but when citizens follow up and make the formal request, you have the agency say no they can’t because it is subjudice. Surely as their attorney, Datadin would have known whether or not making the document public would have legal implications.”

The MP said that arguing the matter is subjudice is “rotten and duplicitous.”

He told Kaieteur News that this confirmed what he said in his budget presentation that while Vice President, Bharrat Jagdeo and the President Irfaan Ali-led government make claims of believing in transparency and accountability, at every turn what is demonstrated is their “real loyalty is to secrecy and the oil companies.”

To this end, Holder insisted, “For his part, Sanjeev Datadin should apologise to the house and nation for misleading all of us.”

apologise, guarantee, oil, spill, subjudice

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