Specific information from several “whistle-blowers” is what sparked an investigation close to a year ago into the issuance of about 20 oil exploration licences here, and with only a desk review done thus far, the State Assets Recovery Agency (SARA) has seen no evidence of irregularities yet.
“We have a lot of players [and] what is causing the concern is that some of the players don’t have any capital or skills in the area for which they have licences so that raises a red flag. Why did they get these licences?” SARA Director, Professor Clive Thomas, told the Sunday Stabroek in an interview. He said that once evidence of wrongdoing is found, civil recovery proceedings could be filed in the courts before year end.
Thomas spoke to the Sunday Stabroek extensively about the matter, including the agency’s intention to collaborate with the Department of Energy (DoE) and plans to establish a section at SARA to deal specifically with oil investigations.
