People pressure led to release of oil contracts

Troy Thomas

President of Transparency Institute of Guyana Inc (TIGI), Troy Thomas says he believes that it was pressure from the people that saw “the unprecedented” release of oil contracts by the government.

“It is therefore important that we recognize the significance of this development and push for this to become the standard for dealing with contracts signed by the government. After all, these are contracts with the people and not the few entrusted with the power to negotiate on behalf of the people,” he told TIGI’s fund-raising dinner on Saturday at the Pegasus Hotel.

Following sustained public pressure, the APNU+AFC government released the controversial 2016 contract with ExxonMobil subsidiary, EEPGL on December 28th last year and then announced that all contracts would be released. Several more have since been issued to the public.