Senior Petroleum Coordinator in the Ministry of Natural Resources, Gopnauth ‘Bobby’ Gossai has been blamed for the audit fiasco where US$214m in disputed oil expenses was slashed to US$3m and he is to be disciplined, a statement last night from Minister Vickram Bharrat said.
While assigning blame, Bharrat’s statement will raise more questions. The government had promised an investigation of the illegal engagement between the Ministry and ExxonMobil to whittle down the disputed costs. No independent investigation was done and it appears that Bharrat – who himself should have been a subject of the inquiry – presided over the probe.
Second, Bharrat’s statement does not address what further investigation should now be conducted since Gossai has been accused of the illegal engagement with ExxonMobil. Ordinarily the matter could be referred to the police for investigation and/or to the Integrity Commission. The statement was however silent on this.
