Inaction on EITI violations could see Guyana facing serious sanctions, Policy Forum warns

Both Minister of Natural Resources Vickram Bharrat and Guyana Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (GYEITI) Head Prem Misir remain mum on their respective roles in the country’s suspension from the EITI, as civil society group Policy Forum yesterday warned of even more serious sanctions if actions are not rectified and systems upgraded.

GYEITI Multi-Stake-holder Group (MSG) member Mike McCormack, who heads Policy Forum said in a statement yesterday,  “…Should further sanctions be triggered for violations to the EITI Standard, the Government of Guyana will not need to seek ‘villains’ to blame: it will have achieved this all by itself.”

Stabroek News reached out to Bharrat on Tuesday and he acknowledged and said he would respond on Wednesday. However, his response to date has been a mere “OK”, with no answers to the questions posed.