Dear Editor,
In a series of letters published in the Sunday editions of Stabroek News (February 16 & 23, March 2 & 9, 2025), the Oil and Gas Governance Network Guyana (OGGN) informed the Guyanese public about questionable tax practices of ExxonMobil and its partners—Hess Corporation and China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC)—and raised concerns about the lack of transparency regarding tax payments made by the Government of Guyana on behalf of these oil companies. These payments are stipulated in the 2016 Petroleum Agreement, also known as the 2016 Production Sharing Agreement.
Specifically, OGGN requested public statements on the flow of tax payments by the Government of Guyana from the Commissioner-General of the Guyana Revenue Authority, Mr. Godfrey Statia, the Minister of Natural Resources, Hon. Vickram Bharrat, and the Senior Minister in the Office of the President with Responsibility for Finance, Hon. Dr Ashni Singh. The last-named also plays a key role in providing the relevant financial data, including tax payments to the oil companies, for the annual reports submitted to the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), to which Guyana has been a member since 2017. To date, OGGN and the public still await responses from these public officials.
Guyana’s Access to Information Act 2011 (Act No. 21 of 2011) grants the public the right to access information held by public authorities. The law was passed under the presidency of His Excellency Bharrat Jagdeo to promote transparency and accountability. It stipulates that citizens have the right to obtain information from public authorities, with requests made in writing to the designated information officer. Public authorities are required to respond within 30 days of receiving a request.
One may ask why OGGN has not contacted the Minister of Natural Resources directly and used the Access to Information Act to obtain relevant information regarding the Government’s tax payments to ExxonMobil, Hess, and CNOOC. In fact, OGGN as well as Transparency Institute Guyana Inc. (TIGI) did so already back in 2021. OGGN inquired with the Minister of Natural Resources in a letter dated July 23, 2021, requesting information regarding the tax certificates issued on behalf of the oil companies. Despite multiple follow-up inquiries, the tax certificates remain hidden to the public. In a separate case, Alfred Bhulai, at the time TIGI Secretary, approached the Ministry of Natural Resources in a letter dated March 26, 2021, requesting oil production data. Due to inaction on the part of the Minister, Alfred Bhulai contacted on March 1, 2023, the Commissioner of Information, Justice Charles Ramson Sr., to obtain the requested information under the provisions of the Access to Information Act. While receipt of the request was acknowledged by the Commissioner, the requested information was never provided.
In a recent episode of Kaieteur Radio’s programem, Oil Talk with OGGN Guyana (March 6, 2025; available on YouTube and Facebook), Alfred Bhulai, now an OGGN director, detailed his experiences with the Access to Information Act. The inadequacies of the Act were also highlighted recently by Attorney-at-Law Christopher Ram in his Stabroek News column “The Road to First Oil” (Column 153 on March 7, 2025), and specific recommendations for revising the law were proposed by Mr. Anand Goolsarran in his Stabroek News column “Accountability Watch” (March 10, 2025).
In 2024, OGGN raised concerns about Guyana’s Access to Information Act 2011 in a shadow report submitted to the UN Human Rights Committee (UN-HRC) as part of Guyana’s third periodic report on its implementation of the UN International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).
During the UN hearings in Geneva, Switzerland, the Government of Guyana was represented by the Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Governance, Hon. Gail Teixeira. The UN-HRC’s concluding report (May 2024) also addressed issues concerning Guyana’s Access to Information Act 2011. The Committee acknowledged the enactment of the Act but expressed concerns that the Commissioner of Information does not respond to all requests from the public (Section 10). The Committee urged the State party to:
Take necessary measures to ensure, in practice, the independence, effectiveness, transparency, and accountability of all anti-corruption bodies, including the Commissioner of Information (Section 11c).
Ensure that the right of access to information held by the Commissioner of Information can be effectively exercised in practice (Section 11d).
Given the UN-HRC’s concerns and recommendations regarding the Access to Information Act 2011, OGGN formally requests that Minister Gail Teixeira, who represented the State party in Geneva, provide a public statement addressing the following points:
What measures have been taken to ensure the effective implementation of the Access to Information Act 2011?
What steps have been taken to improve the accountability and transparency of the Commissioner of Information?
For which years did the Commissioner submit annual reports to the National Assembly, as required by the Act?
How has the Act been revised to facilitate citizen access to public information, excluding matters of personal privacy or national security?
Efficient and broad access to public information is a critical element in anti-corruption efforts, particularly in the management of natural resources such as oil and gas. The Guyanese public deserves a revised Access to Information Act that strengthens and facilitates citizens’ right to public information as a means to promote good governance, transparency, and accountability at all levels of government, as well as full and prompt implementation of this Act.
Sincerely,
Andre Brandli
Janette Bulkan
Kenrick Hunte
Darshanand Khusial
Joe Persaud
For the Oil and Gas Governance Network Guyana (OGGN) [www.oggn.org]
