Ramson promises access to Exxon contract
Commissioner of Information, retired Justice Charles Ramson Snr.
Commissioner of Information, retired Justice Charles Ramson Snr.

THE non-disclosure of the details of the Production Sharing Agreement (PSA) between the Government of Guyana (GoG) and U.S. oil and gas exploration company, Exxon Mobil, does not prevent any citizen from getting details from the Commission of Information.

As such, should a formal application be made, that information could become available; Commissioner of Information, retired Justice Charles Ramson Snr, said on Tuesday. The Commissioner during a presentation of the Access to Information Act at the National Library said his objective was to inform citizens of their right to access information not readily available and the process through which they can do so.

Since the signing of the oil contract earlier this year, Government had taken a decision that the non-release of the details was in the best interest of Guyanese. The agreement sees Guyana receiving 50 per cent of the profits and two per cent Royalties when oil production commences in 2020.
While criticisms have been brewing from every side regarding government’s dealing particularly with the contract, the administration has remained resilient stating that there were reasons behind its refusal to make details available.

Responding to a question at the public forum, Ramson Snr, said as long as the relevant authority withholds information that is in the public’s interest, that information could be requested. “I can assure you that if you make the application, now that you are aware that accessibility and public interest is what the act is about, if you make the application to me, having made it to them, of course you can access it,” the commissioner said.

He said the onus has always been on the holders of public offices and to the very Minister who has been “regaling the public with reasons for not revealing the information”, to have the information available on a website. “These things should not reach the level of controversy. They are bound to publish certain things,” Ramson said.

“It is defined in the act, to include any Ministerial authority, to include the President himself and the Caribbean Court of Justice;” He said “there is much more in the mortar than in the pestle.”
The Commissioner made it clear, however, that Non-Governmental Organisations (NGO) do not have any “locas standi” or the right to request any such information from the Commission. “The Act says that you must either be a Guyanese or a person domicile in Guyana. And, a company cannot be domicile here, neither an NGO. It might be a composite collection under an umbrella with a certain name”.

Meanwhile, Commissioner Ramson said that his office has not been receiving much requests for information from members of the public. He also lamented the lack of adequate staff to effectively carry out the functions of the Constitutional Office, which he said is also independent. He listed other constitutional bodies, including the State Asset Recovery Agency (SARA), the State Asset Recovery Unit (SARU) and the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) that are outfitted with adequate staff.

“It seems like those outfits are given greater priority than the citizens’ demand and access to information… If I had one tenth of their staffing, there would be much more work done for the benefit of the public,”Ramson opined.

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