Kaieteur News – Former Presidential Advisor on Petroleum, Dr. Jan Mangal, said that representatives from Chatham House and the World Bank told him it was a bad idea to publish the contracts Guyana signed with international oil companies (IOCs) for the rights to operate their respective blocks. The comment is included in a public LinkedIn post by the good governance advocate.
The World Bank is Guyana’s development partner of many years, and Chatham House (the Royal Institute of International Affairs), is a policy institute which at times assists governments.
Dr. Mangal reported finding it quite surprising that representatives from these institutions would advise against transparency. He told Kaieteur News “I was taken aback by these comments from Chatham House and World Bank representatives, as I always imagined these organizations would be for transparency which is proven to help countries, and would not be advocating for secrecy which would have the opposite effect.”
At the time, he was advocating for the publication of the contracts, while working for former President, David Granger. Dr. Mangal shared extracts of his Terms of Reference to the administration, which included the recommendation “Release all executed O&G contracts to civil society, to help foster a culture of accountability and transparency.”