(This is a column by Transparency Institute Guyana Inc)
Recently, there has been an exchange of views in the press regarding the environmental suitability and feasibility of the government’s latest plans for a solution to our internal energy consumption needs. This was because TIGI asked for disclosure of certain details of the gas pipeline project.
We wish to take the opportunity to advise the nation that the issues involved are wider than the gas project. In fact, the issue is one of the Government of Guyana sticking to its international commitments whether in spirit or letter. Before we develop this point about commitments we need to say what we mean by “government”.
We are not a political party nor do we feel we have an interest in viewing issues through the lens of a political party. Therefore, when we say “government”, we are seeing those who occupy the corridors of power as the elected government of the day as a continuum in a chain. we are not interested in which parties formed the government.
Now, to the commitments under reference. Over the last decade especially, but not only, the government, our government, attended certain conferences and made certain commitments as regards transparency and accountability. One of these was at the Lima Conference in 2018. Guyana was one of the states parties.
The goals to which the government commits at such fora are consistent with the core focus of TIGI as an organisation. Therefore TIGI has the duty to help the government achieve those goals. And what are those commitments? They are as follows:
“We, the Heads of State and of Government of the Hemisphere, meeting in Lima, Peru at the VIII Summit of the Americas
UNDERSCORING:
That the prevention of and fight against corruption are fundamental to strengthening democracy and the rule of law in our States, …
REAFFIRMING:
Our commitment to anti-corruption treaties, such as the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) and the Inter-American Convention against Corruption (IACAC);
REAFFIRMING:
Also the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and our firm support for its implementation, …
COMMIT TO:
Promoting and or strengthening the implementation of national policies and plans, and as appropriate subnational plans in the areas of open government, digital government, open data, fiscal transparency, open budgeting, digital procurement systems, public contracting and a public registry of state suppliers, considering towards that end the participation of civil society and other social actors
That was in April 2018. In August last year while our politicians’ were no-doubt occupied with political aspects of justice and rule of law, but as the new pandemic continued to rage, the UN published a policy brief (The Impact of COVID-19 on Latin America and the Caribbean- https://reliefweb.int/report/world/policy-brief-impact-covid-19-latin-america-and-caribbean-july-2020 ) in which they describe a bleak near future for this region. To quote the document:
“Parts of Latin America and the Caribbean have become hotspots of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, exacerbated by weak social protection, fragmented health systems and profound inequalities. COVID-19 will result in the worst recession in the region in a century, causing a 9.1% contraction in regional GDP in 2020. This could push the number of poor up by 45 million (to a total of 230 million) and the number of extremely poor by 28 million (to 96 million in total), putting them at risk of undernutrition. In a region which experienced a significant number of political crises and protests in 2019, increasing inequalities, exclusion and discrimination in the context of COVID-19 affect adversely the enjoyment of human rights and democratic developments, potentially even leading to civil unrest, if left unaddressed.”
Also:
“The costs of inequality in the region have become untenable. The response requires rebalancing the role of states, markets and civil society, emphasis on transparency, greater accountability and inclusiveness to support democracy, strengthening the rule of law and protecting and promoting human rights. The root causes of inequality, political instability and displacement need to be addressed.”
With this sense of urgency it proceeds to prescribe:
“These steps, in turn, demand social compacts for legitimacy and support, a strong commitment to the fight against corruption and organized crime, as well as an effective, accountable and responsive presence of the state throughout the territory.”
It sees access by civil society including local communities to information in all the phases of design, implementation and evaluation of public policy as key to saving the region.
Even more recently, the OAS at its meeting in October 2020, passed the following two resolutions:
To urge the governments of the region to support the agencies specialized in access to information and transparency and to consolidate public policies that foster participatory democracy through the effective exercise of this citizen right.
To urge the national governments of the region to work together with local governments to ensure that the basic principles that give substance to the right of access to public information are uniform nationwide, regardless of where that right is exercised, … given that access to public information is a human right, as established by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights.
Clearly, a confluence of concern and effort for programmes that involve civil society has emerged and what was envisioned as desirable, i.e., civil society actors exercising oversight armed with information, has been raised because of the developments over the last 12 months, to the level of urgent necessity.
There is a cynical saying that if it doesn’t work, try more of the same. The traditional culture of secrecy never worked. It has delivered Guyana into a monstrous petroleum quandary requiring all hands on deck to get out of. A private sector official claiming that he has seen the proposal and is satisfied is hardly accountable and responsive. Someone saw the proposal for the infamous power barge and was satisfied. Someone saw the US$200 million Skeldon sugar factory plans and was satisfied. How many government officials saw the unfolding plans for the Exxon contract and were satisfied?
TIGI will be ensuring that we help government to stick to its commitment to provide information as part of open government.
The kind of request we made is not even necessary in progressive countries. The information is published by default for anyone to check.
