Minister of Public Telecommuni-cations Cathy Hughes last week said that she is still awaiting advice from one of the two attorneys she consulted about any potential conflict of interest given her husband’s links to the oil and gas sector.
The local anti-corruption watchdog Transparency Institute of Guyana Inc (TIGI) had expressed concern that there may be a potential conflict of interest for Minister Hughes, given that her husband, attorney Nigel Hughes, is a managing director of the Hughes, Fields & Stoby law firm, which in September launched an office in Houston, Texas to provide legal services to clients in the oil and gas sector.
“Just the fact that Nigel Hughes is the husband of Minister Cathy Hughes means that there is a potential conflict of interest. I hasten to reiterate that I am not, neither is TIGI, attempting to attack or make accusations against anyone,” TIGI President Troy Thomas had said in response to questions asked by this newspaper.