Policy Forum Guyana maintains GYEITI’s civil society convenor in conflict of interest

Last Updated on Tuesday, 11 November 2025, 21:43 by Writer

Despite assurances by the Minister of Natural Resources, Vickram Bharrat, that civil society convenor for the Guyana Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative’s (GYEITI) Multi-Stakeholder Group (MSG) , Dr Ivor English is not in a conflict of interest, Policy Forum Guyana (PFG) maintained that he is not the right man for the job because he has mining concessions.

The PFG said Dr English’s appointment “raises serious concerns about impartiality and governance” because he “has extensive ties to the mining sector.”

The PFG, an umbrella organisation of several civil society and non-governmental activists and organisations, said Mr Bharrat’s justification for selecting Dr English as the convenor failed to mention his interest in the mining sector. “The Minister’s press release emphasized Dr. English’s membership in the 7th Day Adventist Church, highlighting the number of adherents—a wholly irrelevant qualification for administering GYEITI. It made no mention of his ongoing involvement in the extractive sector or the potential for future mining activities,” the PFG said.

Minister Bharrat on Sunday made it clear that the convenor could not change the rules for electing or selecting the civil society representatives on the GYEITI’s MSG, and he could not be a member of that mechanism.

The PFG said that in 2014, Dr English was granted gold-mining concessions totaling 19,586 acres. That organisation said those concessions were later subdivided into 17 separate permits, 13 of which were medium-scale mining permits, each with a maximum size of 1,200 acres.

While Minister Bharrat said Dr English was no longer in gold or sand mining, Dr English said “maybe in the future” he would be mining heavily.

For his part, Dr English on Sunday assured that he would not sacrifice his integrity. ““I am not going to compromise my principles for benefit. I have maintained that through the years if you check my records,” he said.

The PFG noted that Dr. English’s appointment represents the second attempt by Minister Bharrat to allegedly control civic appointments in GYEITI through secretive procedures. Earlier this year, according to the PFG, the minister appointed the Chair of the Private Sector Commission, a decision later reversed following intervention from the EITI International Secretariat. “The Minister’s insistence on controlling civic appointments is concerning, particularly given that GYEITI Reports documenting widespread irregularities and unlawful practices in Guyana’s gold-mining sector,” the PFG said.

While the minister has the power to appoint the convenor of the civic component, the PFG said he is not exempt from ensuring the process is impartial.

“In a fragile and polarized democracy, deliberate efforts to bypass transparent civic selection, including the exclusion of Policy Forum Guyana (PFG) from the selection process, undermine public trust. Both the civic and industry sectors submitted lists of MSG candidates earlier this year through processes that were widely accepted.

The minister’s rejection of these lists on the basis that the legal term of the MSG had ended in November 2024 is specious, especially since the same MSG was approved without issue in the 6th Annual Report in December 2024 after administrative delays,” the PFG added.

Despite these concerns, Policy Forum Guyana said it recognizes the critical role of GYEITI as a platform for transparent information on the mining, oil, gas, forestry, and fishing sectors—information otherwise inaccessible to citizens.

The PFG says it will continue to participate in the upcoming MSG meeting at the Marriott Hotel and calls on other civic organizations to engage fully in support of transparency and accountability.