Transparency group deplores gov’t failure to audit Exxon’s costs

As it denounced government’s negligence in failing to meet the deadline for the audit of over US$9 billion in expenses claimed by ExxonMobil, anti-corruption watchdog Transparency Institute of Guyana Inc. (TIGI) has warned that the public’s failure to hold the administration accountable will result in increased slippages in the oil sector.

TIGI says that had Guyanese held firm to the position that the government had since 1999 erred in its decision to award more oil blocks than the laws allowed and lobbied for a change when it was challenged two years ago, the forfeiture of the right to audit might not have occurred.