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Ram to sue Gov’t. over failure to provide key oil & gas information
Kaieteur News- Following a series of failed attempts to acquire information on the oil and gas sector from the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Office of the Commissioner of Information, prominent Attorney-at-Law, Christopher Ram, has served both offices with a pre-action notice.
Attorney-at-Law Christopher Ram
Ram, in a statement to the media on Wednesday, explained that the pre-action notice was served to the Minister of Natural Resources, Vickram Bharrat and the Commissioner of Information, Charles Ramson SC, regarding their failure to comply with requests made under the Access to Information Act 2011.
Ram’s requests, originally submitted in December 2021, sought access to critical documents related to the signing of the 2016 Petroleum Agreement signed by the Coalition Government, including the January 2020 report prepared by Clyde & Co regarding the 2016 Petroleum Agreement; the Escrow Letter referenced in the Bridging Deed dated June 29, 2016; information on payments made from public funds to Clyde & Co and details of public expenditures relating to Escrow Arrangements under the Bridging Deed.
More than three years have elapsed since the request was first made to both Bharrat and Ramson, however, both have failed to provide any response to these requests. Ram, in his pre-action letter, stated, “The information requested relates to the expenditure of public funds and is of continuing national concern. Continued failure to comply is not only a statutory breach but also an affront to the transparency obligations this Act was enacted to uphold”.
Minister of Natural Resources Vickram Bharrat
Bharrat and Ramson now have 14 days to provide a substantive response and written explanation for the delay before legal proceedings commence. The planned court action will seek declarations of statutory breach, mandatory orders for disclosure, and potentially personal costs against the officials for deliberate evasion of their statutory obligations.
Ram reiterated the importance of these documents for the public’s understanding of agreements made by the former government related to Guyana’s oil resources, which represent significant national assets and involve substantial public funds. It should be noted that Ram just concluded three weeks of picketing the Commissioner of Information’s Office on East Street, Georgetown. He was joined by a number of organisations and individuals who called on Ramson to perform his duties or vacate the Office. A group of protestors had even shared their testimonials in attempting to access information through the Office.
Commissioner of Information Charles Ramson
Last week, Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo told reporters that President Ali should determine whether Ramson should be sacked for non-performance. He said, “I think the Office of the President would have to examine this, but knowing that group…they are intensely political and I think they just want to create this air that the government is not being open.”
Sufficient grounds
During the final picket exercise on April 11, 2025, International Lawyer, Melinda Janki, in a submission read by Sherlina Nageer, said there are enough grounds for the Commissioner of Information to be disqualified from office.
Janki explained that he is expected to be independent of the executive and impartial in discharging his duties. “He must also be seen to be independent and impartial. But there is reason to doubt the independence and impartiality of Mr. Charles Ramson Sr.,” she urged. The Lawyer pointed out that Ramson was the Attorney-General of Guyana under a previous PPP/C administration. “As such, he was the Government’s principal legal adviser. He was, and may still be, loyal to the PPP/C. He may even be a member of the PPP/C party. The commissioner’s son is a minister in the current PPP/C Government. Which father is going to act against the wishes of a government which has the power to determine the success of his son’s political ambitions? That question taints every decision that the commissioner makes and undermines public trust in this important public office,” Janki reasoned.
The lawyer therefore said, “These political factors constitute sufficient grounds based on principle to disqualify Charles Ramson Sr. from remaining in office, irrespective of how he performs his functions.”
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