I strongly support Ms Janki’s appeal to withhold assent to oil spill prevention bill
I strongly support Attorney-at-Law Melinda Janki’s appeal to President Irfaan Ali, as reported in yesterday’s Stabroek News, not to give presidential assent to the rushed Oil Pollution Prevention, Pre-paredness, Response and Responsibility Bill. Ms. Janki, who regularly provides high-value public service to Guyana, provided a strong case on why the legislation contravenes Guyana’s international legal…
Oil pollution prevention bill is naked attempt to cancel Justice Kissoon’s decision
The Oil Pollution Prevention, Preparedness, Response and Responsibility Bill 2025 (the Bill) is nothing but an all-time brazen scam perpetrated by the PPP/C to cancel Judge Kissoon’s decision, and bears out a bold-faced election time deception by the PPP/C that they will include unlimited liability coverage in the Bill after waging a 5-year rabid war…
Stratospheric returns for Hess
Every Man, Woman and Child in Guyana Must Become Oil-Minded – Column 157 Introduction Amid concerns about unresolved audit issues, mysterious tax certificates and controversial oil spill legislation, Hess Exploration Limited, a branch of a Hess subsidiary incorporated in the Cayman Islands, is the first of the Stabroek Block partners to lodge audited financial statements….
LANDMARK COURT ACTION CHALLENGES 14-YEAR FAILURE OF TRANSPARENCY REGIME: First Enforcement Case Under Access to Information Act – Commissioner Accused of Systematic Obstruction
GEORGETOWN, GUYANA – May 16, 2025 – In an unprecedented legal challenge, Attorney-at-law Christopher Ram today filed Guyana’s first judicial review action under the Access to Information Act 2011, directly confronting Commissioner Charles R. Ramson Sr.’s systematic refusal to enforce the nation’s transparency laws. The High Court case represents the first attempt to compel compliance…
Undoing Sandil Kissoon – Part 2
Every Man, Woman and Child in Guyana Must Become Oil-Minded – Column 156 As feared, the Government ignored calls to refer the Oil Pollution Prevention, Preparedness, Response, and Responsibility Bill to a Select Committee and advanced it to a second reading and passage. Listening to the exchange in the National Assembly yesterday, it was entertaining…
Undoing Sandil Kissoon
Every Man, Woman and Child in Guyana Must Become Oil-Minded – Column 155 The National Assembly is scheduled to meet today, as the 12th Parliament moves to a close in preparation for historic elections. The Prime Minister will lead the second reading of the Oil Pollution Prevention, Preparedness, Response and Responsibility Bill tabled last week….
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…