Contending that the APNU+AFC government is illegitimate, activist Ramon Gaskin, former Auditor General Anand Goolsarran and Accountant Nigel Hinds have written the World Bank asking it to halt financing to Guyana under the petroleum resources project.
In their letter dated April 16th, 2020 to President of the World Bank David Malpass, the trio said that funding which the Inter-national Development Association (IDA) is providing for the petroleum sector in Guyana constitutes several breaches.
They argue that the IDA repeatedly breached the duty of good faith under international law by proceeding with the “Guyana Petroleum Resources Governance and Management Project (P166730).”
Referencing legal advice from their attorney Melinda Janki which they enclosed in their letter to Malpass, the trio said that there was no borrower; the World Bank breached international-law good faith obligations; and there exists certain conflicts.
They note that since the Coalition government was defeated in Parliament on a no-confidence motion on December 21st, 2018 constitutionally they ceased to be a full government and became a ‘caretaker’ government with limited powers, adding that by operation of law the President and all Ministers resigned.
They said that from that date therefore, Guyana did not have a government which could approve the Project, nor a Finance Minister who could sign the Financing Agreement.
Contending that the by-then ‘caretaker’ government which then legally became required to hold elections by September 18th, 2019 and did not, “ceased to be a legitimate government,” the trio said, that from September 18th, 2019 the ‘caretaker’ government became an unconstitutional de facto administration.
Their position is that the APNU+AFC Coalition could therefore not be considered a legitimate borrower.
Advancing that the IDA has committed breaches, Gaskin, Goolsarran and Hinds said that the duty of good faith is set out in the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties which applies to IDA’s Articles of Agreement.
Referencing “Breaches of the World Bank Procurement Regulations 3:16 and 3:17,” the trio in their letter which was seen by the Stabroek News said that these breaches include conflict of interest and bias.
According to them, the IDA has approved or overlooked the hiring of ExxonMobil’s preferred law firm Hunton Andrews Kurth to draft legislation and policies for Guyana’s petroleum sector.
Highlighting ExxonMobil as the major player in Guyana’s nascent petroleum sector, the authors of the letter have said that the World Bank itself has a close relationship with Kurth who boasts that “The London-based journal Legal Week concluded that “[w]hen The World Bank seeks international legal advice for African governments, it most often turns to the US firm “Hunton & Williams.” That reputation still stands.”
Against this background they are asking the World Bank president to immediately order a full independent investigation of the Guyana Project and the attendant issues raised, halt the project including ceasing all disbursements and work and to “inform the unconstitutional de facto administration” that the project has been halted.
According to them, Guyana has no ministers at present and no legitimate government.
“We would therefore request that the World Bank does not permit the unconstitutional APNU+ AFC administration to present itself as the legitimate government of Guyana during the World Bank Spring Meetings or at any other time,” they said.
