Govt says former GY-EITI Head was politically aligned

– says it remains committed to Santiago Principles of good governance, accountability, and transparency

The Government has defended the non-renewal of the contract of former Head of Guyana Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (GY-EITI), Dr Rudy Jadoopat, pointing out his links to political parties, specifically the Alliance For Change (AFC).
The non-renewal of Dr Jadoopat’s contract has been vociferously condemned by the AFC. But according to the Natural Resources Ministry, Dr Jadoopat, who has now been replaced by former University of Guyana Pro-Chancellor Dr Prem Misir, is an Executive Member of the AFC and, therefore, could not remain in the employ of the Secretariat.
“From the onset, the Ministry of Natural Resources has oversight responsibility for the Guyana Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (GY-EITI) Secretariat and the Multi-Stakeholder Group (MSG), and would like to state that the local Head of EITI, Dr Rampadarat [“Rudy”] Jadoopat’s employment came to an end following the expiration of his contract in January 2021, but was retained on a month-to-month contract until January 31, 2022. Hence, he was kept on the job to allow for a smooth transition for the appointment of a new Head of the GY-EITI Secretariat.”
The Government noted that as such and in keeping with accountability and transparency in filling the position, it collaborated with the MSG to publicly advertise for Dr Jadoopat’s position and four other positions to strengthen the Secretariat.
“Dr Jadoopat, who is a known Executive Member of the Alliance For Change, reapplied and was not the top-ranking candidate following the interviews. Dr Jadoopat was placed as Head of GY-EITI by the then Leader of the AFC and former Government Minister, Raphael Trotman.”

“Further, the non-renewal of Dr Jadoopat’s contract and the process of appointing a new Head of the GY-EITI Secretariat were done in keeping with acceptable employment SOPs governing the appointment for such positions,” the Ministry further explained.
The Ministry also compared Dr Jadoopat’s situation with that of the former Head of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Dr Vincent Adams. Adams, also an AFC executive, who was appointed under the former Government. He lost his job when the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) came to office.
“The Government of Guyana and the Ministry of Natural Resources remain committed to the Santiago Principles of good governance, accountability, and transparency which resulted in the appointment of an enhanced 12-member Government and civil society comprised MSG last September to strengthen the capacity of the GY-EITI Secretariat.
“Therefore, the GoG and the Ministry of Natural Resources will not be distracted by the AFC’s deliberate attempt to distract and stymie the work of the GY-EITI Secretariat and the MSG to preside [over] and deliver a high standard of natural resources governance,” it was explained.
It was also explained by the Ministry that an international consultancy firm has been hired to independently manage the GY-EITI Secretariat and work was ongoing for the preparation of Guyana’s next EITI Report.
The EITI is a global standard to promote the open and accountable management of oil, gas, and mineral resources. Under the EITI standard, companies in the extractive sector publish what they pay to Governments, and Governments publish what they receive in an annual EITI country report.

In many countries, most of the revenues from natural resources accrued at subnational levels are not derived from company payments to Local Government entities, but from transfers to the Central Government.
Depending on the revenue distribution frameworks in place, these transfers can be a considerably larger source of revenue for subnational entities than taxes and fees collected at local levels. The revised EITI standard requires that such transfers are reported.
Where companies are legally or contractually required to make social contributions, these must be disclosed, under the EITI standard. Where countries collect significant revenues from the transportation of oil, gas, and minerals, such as pipelines, the Government will also be required to disclose the revenues received.
Guyana became an EITI-implementing country on October 25, 2017. Its first EITI validation was done last year by a visiting international validation team, scoring Guyana on stakeholder engagement, transparency, and outcomes and impact when it comes to the natural resources sector. This encompasses oil and gas, gold mining and quarrying.