Since the establishment of the 12th parliament, the Parliamentary Committee on Natural Resources, has only met once and the purpose for that meeting was to appoint its Chairman and Vice Chairman. Natural Resources Minister, Vickram Bharrat chairs the committee, while Opposition Member Dawn Hastings-Williams functions as the Vice Chair.
Other members are Minister of Home Affairs, Robeson Benn, Minister within the Ministry of Local Government Anand Persaud and Members of Parliament Fizal Jaffarally, Lee Williams for the government’s side, while Members of Parliament Cathy Hughes, Deonarine Ramsaroop, and Vincent Henry sit on the Opposition side. The failure of the committee to meet has raised questions especially as the oil and gas sector continues to rapidly expand. Minister and Chair of the Committee, Bharrat last week said he was out of the country and not could not speak on the absence of committee meetings. He has promised to speak to this newspaper upon his return this week.
Opposition member, Ramsaroop, in an invited comment yesterday told Stabroek News that the opposition members have attempted to find out about the non-holding of meetings but their efforts have been futile. He said that their probes in many instances were met with “very soon.” “Right now this is the biggest sector in our economy it is changing the dynamics of our country but the government does not see the need to hold meetings… they are talking about their commitment to transparency and accountability but their actions are not in line with that.” He made the comment while underscoring the need for the committee to sit.
According to Ramsaroop, it is alarming that the government side of the house does not recognize the importance of regular meetings. “We have several areas to overlook. The oil and gas sector is the largest but the parliamentary committee does nothing. We were supposed to be on outreaches to see what is happening, to assess the working conditions in the sectors, look at how the oil operation is being operated but nothing is being done,” he stressed. According to Parliament’s website, the committee in the exercise of its responsibilities, has the power to examine all policies and administration for each sector to determine whether the execution of Government’s policy is in consonance with the principle of good governance and in the best interest of the nation.
Ramsaroop noted too, that if the committee was sitting, Guyana could have possibly avoided suspension from the international Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI). The parliamentary sectoral body, he said, would have been able to monitor that process.
Opposition Chief Whip, Christopher Jones, last night told Stabroek News that they are very concerned that the sector is functioning without any oversight from the parliamentary committee. He stressed that President Irfaan Ali has, in the past, said that the opposition can contribute to the development of Guyana at a committee level. However, the non-sitting is stifling the Opposition’s efforts to do so.
“It is a deliberate attempt to prevent any questions from being asked about what is happening in the sector. They are not serious about transparency and accountability. The PPP does not adhere to that, basic information you cannot get,” he lamented. In the same breath, he highlighted the struggles the Opposition faces when it comes to tabling questions and motions in the National Assembly.
“The Speaker [Manzoor Nadir] also finds some objections to the wording of a sentence or clause. By [the] time you get the question tabled in Parliament, you do not recognise it,” he stated. According to him, they have made numerous queries why the committee was not sitting and have never been able to get past the question.
Serious transgression
In November of last year, Committee member Hughes, at an Alliance for Change press conference accused the Speaker of committing a serious transgression by not directing that committees meet. In her statement, Hughes highlighted the fact that several committees were not meeting. “At a time when we face a rapidly developing oil and gas sector, one which is currently plagued by a lack of transparency in the publishing of Government contracts and feasibility studies, the Natural Resources Committee has never met. With our border (controversy) case in the International Court of Justice – the Foreign Relations Committee has never met. With rapidly increasing crime – a possible response to the high cost of living- the Security Sector Committee has never met,” she said.
Hughes said that it is through these Committees the opportunity is guaranteed for all sides of the House to participate, discuss issues of national importance, facilitate robust discussion, and most importantly, strive to achieve consensus on national issues in the best interest of the country. However, Government’s Chief Whip, Gail Teixeira, had rebutted Hughes’ comments and noted that Opposition members of parliament are the Chairs of most of the non-functional committees. “What they seem to forget is that a number of the committees that are being headed by government ministers are meeting. And there are a number of committees headed by Opposition members, such as in the sectoral committees, have not been meeting. Some have not met for over a year,” she said in media reports.
During the tenure of the APNU+AFC government, sittings were hosted on several occasions, notably among them was the meeting between ExxonMobil, and the Parliamentary Sectoral Committee on Natural Resources. Then ExxonMobil’s Country Director, Rod Henson, and a team in July 2018 had made an appearance in the Parliament’s Chamber. It was at this meeting that Henson shot down People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) member, Pauline Sukhai’s question on the possibility of ExxonMobil funding of a political party or political initiatives in Guyana. “Sorry ma’am, I have to stop you. ExxonMobil is not involved with politics in Guyana. We do not choose sides, we’re apolitical. We’re not funding any political party, any political side, any political initiatives, none, just full stop.”
ExxonMobil, according to a letter dispatched to it by the committee, was to “provide an update” on the “company’s operations and answer questions of concern to members.” Henson had replied saying that he “welcomed the opportunity…to provide an update on EEPGL’s (ExxonMobil’s subsidiary) operations,” but was forced to explain that the communication was bungled. The communication, Henson believed, meant that he was only providing updates on the local content aspect of EEPGL’s operations and thus came prepared to deal with that subject only. Henson, nonetheless, said that he would answer questions outside of his prepared subject as best as he could.
Henson did not provide any answers as to who initiated the controversial US$18 million signing bonus between EEPGL and the government, or what were the short and long-term cost projections of work by his company. PPP/C MP Odinga Lumumba was the Chair of that committee. MPs Neil Kumar, Pauline Sukhai and Yvonne Pearson represented the then opposition PPP/C, while Audwin Rutherford, Jermaine Figueira and Ronald Bulkan represented the then APNU + AFC government. Former Minister of Finance Winston Jordan and then Minister of State Joseph Harmon were also a part of the committee but were absent at that sitting.
