Accountability Watch

For four consecutive days during last week, the Earth recorded its hottest days, with the global average temperature reaching 62.92 degrees Fahrenheit.

The Petroleum Activities Bill 2023 On 20 June 2023, the Ministry of Natural Resources released the draft Petroleum Activities Bill 2023 for public comment, with a 14-day period for doing so.

The disclosure last week of a sitting Minister of the Government and Member of Parliament (MP) accused of raping and sodomising a 16-year old girl from the indigenous community, has sent shockwaves throughout the length and breadth of Guyana and beyond its borders.

The problem is not simply fossil fuel emissions. It’s fossil fuels – period.

In last week’s article, we highlighted the importance of insurance coverage and/or financial guarantee for environmental damage that may be caused by the petroleum operations of ExxonMobil’s subsidiaries – Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Ltd (EEPGL), Nexen and Hess.

Last week, the Brazilian Supreme Court sentenced former President Fernando Collor de Mello to eight years and 10 months in prison on corruption and money laundering charges.

In a message for the World Day of Prayer for Care of Creation, Pope Francis stated that the world must rapidly ditch fossil fuels and end the “senseless war against creation”.

There appears to be a misconception as regards calls for the renegotiation of the 2016 Petroleum Sharing Agreement (PSA) between the Government of Guyana and ExxonMobil.

Truth is threatened by disinformation and hate speech seeking to blur the lines between fact and fiction, between science and conspiracy.

In relation to the seizure of the cellphone of the Ministry of Home Affairs’ Permanent Secretary and the revocation of her visa  by the US authorities, the President reportedly stated that the Permanent Secretary was on her way to a training programme in China for the People’s Progressive Party/Civic when she was called in for a secondary inspection at Miami International Airport.

The Commonwealth Caribbean Association of Integrity Commissions and Anti-Corruption Bodies (CCAICACB) held its 9th Conference last week at the Arthur Chung Convention Centre.

In our article of 3 April 2023, we stated that the contract for the production of electronic ID cards was also in breach of sections 16 and 30(1) of the Fiscal Management and Accountability (FMA) Act.

An interesting article appeared in December 2017 in MoneyWatch on why the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) fails as a measure of well-being.

Some 700 experts from universities and research bodies across the UK sent a letter to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak urging him to end approvals for all new oil and gas developments, as any such approval would undermine the UK’s position as a global climate leader.

Since I returned from the United Nations in 2012 and became involved in the work of Transparency Institute Guyana Inc.

Humanity is on thin ice—and that ice is melting fast. Our world needs climate action on all fronts—everything, everywhere, all at once.

Last Monday, the meeting of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) to scrutinize the public accounts and the related reports of the Auditor General, had to be cancelled because of the absence of a quorum.

Considering the damning assessment of the operations of the Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU) as contained in the most recent National Risk Assessment Report, it was somewhat heartening to learn of SOCU’s action to bring about charges against three members of a family alleged to have been involved in money laundering activities.

Last Monday’s sitting of the Public accounts Committee (PAC), the Auditor General’s report on the procurement, storage and distribution of COVID-19 supplies was discussed.

A country’s natural resources, such as oil, gas, metals and minerals, belong to its citizens.