Dear Editor,
It was announced some time in June of this year that Guyana intended to join the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI). This is good. What however is not good is that the door remains ajar for the passage of government contracts with so-called confidentiality clauses. These confidentiality clauses have been used in the past to mask all kinds of dubious transactions.
Many advanced countries, particularly in the EU, have recognized the disservice to emerging markets and third world countries of government contracts with confidentiality clauses facilitating bribery, outright corruption through theft of state resources via price gouging, etc, and/or plain misallocation of resources, which may include securing the wrong contractor. Guyana has had its share of confidentiality agreements and other arrangements in the past.
Governments are the elected representatives of their populations and are accountable to them for virtually all aspects of the management of state resources. The criteria for government contracts should be pretty straightforward; if contracts cannot be brought to the attention of the public, then they cannot be made on behalf of the public. Exceptions are limited to cases in which the security of the state would be threatened or there is the potential for loss of life.
Yours faithfully,
Craig Sylvester
