Dear Editor,
A recent article in the Stabroek News ‘No plans to revisit Exxon deal’ (Jan 26) suggests that the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) was involved in the drafting of the Petroleum Commission Bill:
“…the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), International Monetary Fund and the Commonwealth had helped with the drafting of the proposed legislation and stakeholders consulted had asked for a revisiting of the bill.”
The IDB was not involved in drafting the Bill which was submitted to the National Assembly in mid-2017. The IDB provided comments on the Bill only after it was submitted to the National Assembly. The IDB review was requested by the Ministerial Quintet on O&G and took the form of a clause-by-clause review of the Bill. The results of this review were submitted in October 2017.
The initial draft of the Bill was submitted by the Commonwealth Secretariat to the Ministry of Natural Resources, and it is likely these two parties collaborated to produce the document submitted to the National Assembly in mid-2017.
Yours faithfully,
Jan Mangal
Petroleum Adviser