Refer the Oil Pollution Bill 2025 to a Select Committee due to its technical deficiencies and legal ambiguity
I write to make an urgent appeal to the Speaker of the National Assembly, the Leader of the House, the Leader of the Opposition, and the Prime Minister regarding the Oil Pollution Prevention, Preparedness, Response and Responsibility Bill 2025, tabled by the Prime Minister last Friday. This legislation represents one of the most critical environmental…
President’s lack of response and Information Commissioner’s disdain exemplify their disregard for information rights
I write to share the latest information on Guyana’s dismal state of transparency and right to information. On April 14, 2025, on behalf of a group of civil society organisations and individuals, I wrote the President, who holds the Portfolio for Information, requesting a meeting regarding the Office of the Commissioner of Information’s failures: no…
Let us not fail Adriana twice
I express heartfelt condolences to the parents and other loved ones of 11-year-old Adriana Younge, whose tragic and suspicious death has plunged our nation into grief and turmoil. The pain and anger felt by all Guyanese – not only parents and family members – are real. The public outrage over the police’s handling of this…
PPP/C Government retreats and tables its own rejected Oil Pollution Prevention Preparedness Response and Responsibility Bill
Hopefully, all of Guyana have recovered from the shock of the bombshell pre-election revelation that the Government has retreated from their rabidly fought 5-year battle against unlimited liability protection to cover an oil spill. During their respective media programmes of last week, both Vice President Jagdeo and Attorney General (AG) Nandlall, announced tabling of the…
Trump’s tariffs: Robbed by the contract, robbed by the data, robbed by the tariff
The 38% tariff on Guyana’s exports to the United States is among the highest announced by President Donald Trump late last week. The number is half of the 76% that Trump’s economic advisers have calculated as the actual value of the tariff disparity between the USA and Guyana. However, what began as a comparison of…
President Ali must act without delay on these pressing oil and gas matters
Over the past seven weeks, the Sunday Stabroek has published a series of letters by the Oil and Gas Governance Network (OGGN) Guyana highlighting the lopsided nature of the 2016 Production Sharing Agreement (PSA) between the Government of Guyana and ExxonMobil Guyana Ltd, along with its affiliates Hess Corporation and CNOOC. As previously reported by…
Why Guyana’s crude oil exports must be excluded from US import tariff
The recent US reciprocal Tariff Schedule for Guyana, 76/38 % is not trade-weighted by the amount of Guyana’s exports versus its imports from the US. It appears that Guyana has used its 76% tariff charged to the US as a revenue measure, in a similar way that Trump is attempting to do. For example, fish exported…
