WHERE IS THE GYEITI REPORT?

Georgetown, Guyana.

March 5, 2022

For immediate release to all media houses.

REVISED PRESS RELEASE – WHERE IS THE GYEITI REPORT?

The Alliance For Change (AFC) is concerned that the government has not made any credible efforts to commence preparation of the overdue 2020 GYEITI report so that the new deadline will be reached .

Last month, the public was informed via Stabroek News that Guyana had failed to meet the extended deadline to submit its 2020 report to the Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (EITI). President Irfaan Ali used his Facebook page to blame the Multi-Stakeholder Group (MSG) with explicit reference to two civic members of the group as being responsible for the delay.

Since the publication on his Facebook feed, the two accused members – Vanda Radzig and Mike McCormac, have given their views on the situation. However, it appears that political attempts were being made to dictate some of the report’s content, which runs contrary to the standards and practice of EITI.

This is not the way to encourage public confidence in the administration of our public affairs. Furthermore, the AFC had previously warned that the current leadership of GYEITI could not carry out the organization’s mandate and called for reinstating elements of the previous administration. We still believe that changes are necessary to fulfil the organization’s mandate.

We are also calling on the ABCE Heads of Missions to insist on releasing the report. It is in everyone’s interest for Guyana to comply with its obligation of membership and for public interest transparency.

The silence of the ABCE missions on this matter is of concern since, over time, they have been quick to pronounce on issues of national import.

We note, however, that in November 2017, the Trump administration withdrew the US from EITI. At the time, the US Congress removed the ‘resource extraction rule’, which required companies like Exxon Mobil to disclose taxes and other fees paid to a foreign government. For example, if this rule remained, EXXON would have had to reveal ALL payments made to the government of Guyana.

At the time of the US withdrawal, Senators Ben Cardin and Dick Lugar, republicans, had described the move as favourable to ‘Big Oil and Gas – money and Influence’.

The AFC calls on President Ali to insist on releasing the GYEITI 2020 report, which is overdue. END