Chartered Accountant and Attorney-at-Law Christopher Ram has issued a pre-action notice to the Minister of Natural Resources, Vickram Bharrat and the Commissioner of Information retired Justice of Appeal, Charles Ramson regarding their failure to comply with requests made under the Access to Information Act (2011).

 In a statement today, Ram said his requests date back to December 2021 when he originally sought access to critical documents related to the signing of the 2016 Petroleum Agreement signed by the Coalition Government.

He said requests have been made for information on the January 2020 report prepared by Clyde & Co regarding the 2016 Petroleum Agreement, the Escrow Letter referenced in the Bridging Deed dated June 29, 2016, information on payments made from public funds to Clyde & Co and details of public expenditures relating to Escrow Arrangements under the Bridging Deed.

Ram said more than three years after those requests were made, both the Minister of Natural Resources and the Commissioner of Information have failed to provide any response.

“The information requested relates to the expenditure of public funds and is of continuing national concern. Continued failure to comply is not only a statutory breach but also an affront to the transparency obligations this Act was enacted to uphold,” Ram stated in his pre-action letter.

The pre-action notice gives the officials fourteen (14) days to provide a substantive response and written explanation for the delay before legal proceedings commence.

He said planned Court action will seek declarations of statutory breach, mandatory orders for disclosure, and potentially personal costs against the officials for deliberate evasion of their statutory obligations.

Mr. Ram believes that the documents are crucial for public understanding of agreements made by the former government related to Guyana’s oil resources, which represent significant national assets and involve substantial public funds.

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