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Past decisions cannot degut Natural Resources Committee of powers to summon ExxonMobil for questioning – Ramjattan
Kaieteur News – Former Leader of the Alliance For Change (AFC), Khemraj Ramjattan is of the firm view that the Government of Guyana does not want oil major ExxonMobil, and other companies operating in the natural resources sector to be thoroughly questioned in Parliament.
Former AFC Leader, Khemraj Ramjattan
He made this conclusion on Friday during a news conference, after arguing that past decisions of a previous Natural Resources Sectoral Committee do not change the Standing Orders of the National Assembly, nor does it alter existing laws.
Ramjattan said, “The AFC wishes to state that a previous committee’s decision cannot fetter the decision of another committee.”
His comments came on the heels of the recent revelation by the Clerk of the National Assembly, Sherlock Isaacs, that Exxon could not be summoned to appear before the Natural Resources Committee since a decision was previously made that private companies would not be questioned in Parliament.
Ramjattan explained that the AFC was told that the decision was made on July 21, 2014. A copy of the Minutes of that Meeting of the Natural Resources Sectoral Committee detailed, “The Chairman informed the Committee that with respect to visits to Kwakwani and Bai Shan Lin, following a conversation with the Clerk of the National Assembly who indicated that there are differing views on the matter; whereas the Committee could not invite a private company to appear before it or could make visits to observe the general operations. He further stated that the Clerk of the National Assembly had promised to look into the matter.” (See copy of Minutes in photo attached.)
The former Minister of Public Security believes it is “rather strange” that the present Committee is being bound by a decision of the previous body, made some 10 years ago.
Minutes of the 2014 Meeting of the Natural Resources Sectoral Committee
Ramjattan argued that Exxon was an agent of the government for the extraction of a resource that belongs to the government and people of Guyana and should therefore be held accountable. “So now to have a situation creating the precedent that we can’t call them for questioning is going to degut the Standing Orders and those Sectoral Committees of the powers that they have, first of all given by the Constitution and secondly by the Standing Orders and so the AFC is making the statement that we cannot derogate by this manner, the power to summon or deny the Sectoral Committee the power not to summon,” the lawyer pointed out.
Ramjattan continued, “It is important that we understand that everybody must be accountable, everybody must be scrutinized who have natural resources as the basis of their agreements with government and be they companies or even persons…so if the present committee would like to have Exxon to be called in, Exxon ought to listen because there is a power to penalize if you do not come.”
During the most recent meeting of the Committee on July 19, 2024, Isaacs informed the body that representatives of the company can be arrested and detained until they appear before the Committee, in accordance with the Evidence Act Chapter 1:08.
ExxonMobil Country Manager, Rod Henson and team appeared before the Natural Resources Sectoral Committee in 2018 after the decision was reportedly made for private companies to not be questioned in the House.
To this end, Ramjattan pointed out that there was no change to those principles in writing; as such, he urged, “we should not gallop into a region that is going to create a very unruly horse or slippery slope on this issue.”
The Opposition Parliamentarian also pointed out that Exxon appeared before the Parliamentary Sectoral Committee on Natural Resources in 2018, following the “purported decision”.
He said, “That is also a rationale as to why the precedent of 2014 should not be the law, because there was under the ministership of Raphael Trotman where Exxon was invited and were summoned as it were and Exxon came – four years after this alleged precedent was set.”
The former leader of the AFC is of the view that the PPP does not want Exxon and other companies operating in the natural resources sector to be questioned. He reasoned, “We, after a four-year period, did ask Exxon to come and Exxon came, and I understand the PPP, via Pauline Sukhai had questioned very seriously, Rod Henson (Exxon’s Country Manager at the time) and so why can’t we now at this stage have questions asked of (current President of ExxonMobil Guyana) Mr. (Alistair) Routledge?”
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