The debate on conflict of interest has once again surfaced in the news. This time, the focus is on a Minister of the Government whose spouse is the Managing Director of a law firm in Guyana that recently announced the opening of offices in Houston, Texas to provide legal services in the oil and gas sector to potential clients desirous of setting up operations in Guyana.
ExxonMobil is also headquartered in Houston and operates in Guyana through three subsidiaries – Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Ltd., CNOOC Nexen Petroleum Guyana Ltd. and Hess Guyana Exploration Ltd. According to the Production Sharing Agreement dated 27 June 2016, the registered offices of these three companies are the same as that of the law firm in question. It is, however, not clear to what extent the firm is associated with these subsidiaries but in a court matter relating to environmental permits, the Managing Director is reported to be representing two of the above companies.
In our article of 16 September 2013, we had stated that the Managing Director was also the Company Secretary of the Amaila Falls Hydro Inc. at a time when he was the chairman of the Alliance For Change (AFC). The AFC had voted against an amendment to the Hydro Electric Act as well as the lifting of the ceiling for government guarantee of loans to public entities to facilitate the proposed power sharing agreement between the company and the Guyana Power and Light. Three weeks later, the AFC had a change of heart and voted in favour of the two amendments when they were re-tabled in the Legislature. The Managing Director resigned as chairman, but it is not clear whether such action had to do with the conflict of interest or whether it was as a result of internal disagreements within the party.
