Had both government and the current opposition acted on the Petroleum Commission Bill when it was sent to a Select Committee in 2018, controversy regarding the sweeping powers of the minister could have been resolved, as a commission responsible for those decisions would have been in place, former Auditor General Anand Goolsarran has said..
He believes that mirroring complaints on the issue of power by the minister would not have continued as it does for the recently proposed Petroleum Activities Bill.
“Our main concern so far about the Bill is the over-concentration of powers in the hands of the minister of Natural Resources. This is notwithstanding that the minister may delegate any of the powers in the administration, supervision and inspection of petroleum operations to a department, agency or government body under its administrative authority. The word “may’’ would suggest that it is not mandatory for the minister to do so. He/she can decide not to delegate any of his/her responsibilities, or if the minister does decide to do so, he/she can be selective in his/her approach,” Goolsarran wrote in his weekly Accountability Watch column, in the Stabroek News.
