Last Updated on Sunday, 9 November 2025, 1:30 by Writer
The Ministry of Natural Resources will be accepting nominees for representation on the Guyana Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (GYEITI) only from legally registered civil society and non-governmental organisations.
That’s according to the civil society convenor Dr Ivor English in announcing a caucus to renew its representation on the multi-stakeholder group (MSG) of the GYEITI on November 20-21 at the Marriot Hotel.
He said “all active civil society organizations (CSOs) and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) duly registered under the laws of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, especially those with interests and activities in the extractive sector” can attend that event.
The natural resources ministry highlighted the credibility of Dr English, a member of the Guyana Conference of Seventh-day Adventists (GCSDA). “As a member of this non-partisan, faith-based organisation with no political or industrial affiliation, Dr English is uniquely positioned to serve as a Civil Society Convenor,” the ministry said.
The government said the convenor would serve for two MSG terms, a total of six years.
As convenor, the ministry said Dr English is tasked with guiding an open, independent, participatory, and representative caucusing process, in keeping with the EITI standard for the upcoming reconstitution of the civil society component within the GYEITI MSG.
Dr English is a former director-general of the Maritime Administration (MARAD) and a former member of the Public Procurement Commission under the APNU+AFC-led administration.
The natural resources ministry said the GCSDA represents one of Guyana’s most structured civil society organisations, comprising over 68,000 active members and adherents across 31 pastoral districts.
Dr English said that day one of the meetings would focus on developing and approving rules and guidelines for selecting civil society representatives to the MSG in line with Requirement 1.4 of the EITI Standard. The requirement states that each stakeholder group must have the right to appoint its own representatives, taking into account pluralistic and diverse representation. CSOs must have the independence and autonomy in setting their own rules for selecting representatives. On day two, the representatives would be elected or selected, he also said.
From the inception, the umbrella civil society organisation – Policy Forum Guyana – had been responsible for convening and electing civil society representatives to the GYEITI’s multi-stakeholder group (MSG).
However, about two years ago, the Guyana government and the Policy Forum representatives had a bitter fallout over the delay in Guyana submitting its reports to the Norway-headquartered EITI. At issue, then, was a dispute over the terms of reference for the Independent Administrator, the United Kingdom-headquartered BDO UK, an international network of public accounting, tax and advisory firms, which compiled GYEITI’s previous reports.
Guyana’s suspension from that global watchdog against corruption in Guyana’s oil and gas, mining and quarrying, forestry, and fisheries sectors, was lifted in 2023 when the country met the deadline of July 30, 2023 to submit its 2020 report.
The government later selected the then President of the Private Sector Commission (PSC), Komal Singh, a move that had raised serious questions about the impartiality of the PSC but more so whether the private sector is considered civil society.
In Trinidad and Tobago’s EITI process, the private sector is not considered civil society.
EITI requirements state that civil society must be fully, actively and effectively engaged in the EITI process. The government is required to ensure that there is an enabling environment for civil society participation with regard to relevant laws, regulations and administrative rules as well as actual practice in implementation of the EITI.
The fundamental rights of civil society substantively engaged in the EITI, including but not limited to members of the multi-stakeholder group, must be respected. The government is required to ensure that there are no obstacles to civil society participation in the EITI process.
The government must refrain from actions which result in narrowing or restricting public debate in relation to implementation of the EITI.
Stakeholders, including but not limited to members of the multi-stakeholder group, must be able to speak freely on transparency and natural resource governance issues, be substantially engaged in the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the EITI process, and ensure that it contributes to public debate, have the right to communicate and cooperate with one another, and be able to operate freely and express opinions about the EITI without restraint, coercion or reprisal.
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