‘Guyana’s access to info law is a farce’

Mar 13, 2025 News

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—transparency advocate urges revamp to remove barriers

Kaieteur News-  Describing the current law as “completely useless,” transparency advocate, Alfred Bhulai has called for a complete revamp of the Access to Information Act.

During an episode of the Kaieteur Radio programme, ‘Oil Talk’ with the Oil and Gas Governance Network (OGGN), Bhulai, an Energy Technologist, noted that in its current state, the law makes accessing information from public entities, an impossible task.

The OGNN member explained that while citizens’ right to access to information is enshrined in the constitution, the Access to Information Act empowers public authorities to deny them that right. He noted that in 2002, there was some international pressure to bring about improvement for public access to information globally. To this end, he opined that the law is a farce in place for international bodies and conventions to believe that Guyana is operating in conformity to global standards for transparency without actually doing so.

“In 2002, a lot of civil society organisations in the world got together and formed an organisation of Civil Society organisations …It eventually became bigger with Civil Society bodies like the Organisation of American States [OAS] took up this thing seriously…An agreement was signed in the Costa Rica where countries came together to sign an agreement for access to environmental information…” Bhulai pointed to several occasions where his attempt to access information from public office was denied.

He noted one particular experience with the Ministry of Natural Resources for daily production and analysis of the oil and gas being produced offshore. I asked the Commissioner of Information, who is named in the Act but the information was never provided.

Bhulai stressed that this is due to the fact that neither the public agency, Ministry nor Commissioner of Information is mandated to provide the information. “The Commissioner of Information doesn’t have to do anything because according to the Act, he may extend the period of sixty days for approval or denial and inform the applicant of the reasons therefore. Where the Commissioner of Information fails to give access within the time specified, the information shall be deemed inaccessible.”

“Therefore, the Commissioner of Information is not even obligated to respond to me after 60 days,” Bhulai said. He questioned the purpose of a law that has procedures that the public can get nowhere. “A revamp of the law which adds penalties for non-adherence for giving the information should be added.”

Additionally, the transparency advocate pointed to the lack of annual reports to the National Assembly. As such, Bhulai believes that citizens should raise their voices in calling for a change to the law. “We definitely can’t look to the Government to change it because in its present form, the law basically serves them,” he said.

In one of his recent columns, Every Man, Woman and Child in Guyana Must Become Oil-Minded’ Attorney-at-Law Christopher Ram ‘highlighted the impact of this barrier to information in an oil economy. The lawyer accused the Commissioner of Information, Justice Charles Ramson of undermining transparency, through the use of complex language that creates further confusion rather than clarifies issues of importance, among other issues.

To preface his arguments, Ram explained the purpose of the Access to Information Act, passed in 2011. He said, “Guyana’s Constitution identifies access to information as a right – not a privilege. Yet, for a decade and more since the Access to Information Act was passed in 2011, this right has been treated with contempt.”

The Act provides for the appointment of a Commissioner of Information and the laying of annual reports in the National Assembly, no later than nine months after the end of each year.

Ram in his column told readers that the Office of the Commissioner of Information’s ongoing obstructionism reflects more than a question of competence, since he views this as a deliberate affront to transparency and accountability. The lawyer was keen to note that while these public demands were not made using the Access to Information Act, they highlight the frustrations and obstructions in obtaining basic information on matters of public interest. According to him, “These letters underscore how the barriers to information access extend beyond the oil sector to affect various aspects of civil society oversight and citizen engagement.”

(‘Guyana’s access to info law is a farce’)

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• access to information act, Oil and Gas Governance Network (OGGN), organisation of Civil Society organisations, transparency advocate

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