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Exxon, EPA heads face arrest for failing to appear before congressional committee
…Members unanimously agreed to speed up the process
Kaieteur News– For the past seven months, US oil giant ExxonMobil and oil industry regulator the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have been avoiding invitations to appear before the National Assembly’s natural resources sector committee.
However, representatives of these bodies can be arrested and detained until they can appear before the legislature. Evidence Act Chapter 1:08. This section of the bill was cited by National Assembly Secretary Sherlock Isaacs at the last meeting of the Natural Resources Sector Committee on July 19. Alliance for Change (AFC) MP Catherine Hughes sought guidance from the secretary after expressing concerns that the committee’s work was being hampered.
To this end, Isaacs pointed out that “A witness may be any person in Guyana, whether in the private or public sector, who is able to give any information on the subject matter of any question arising in its determination or who has in his possession or control any book, plan or document relating to the subject matter of that question. The agency may issue a subpoena to any person in Form 1 in the Schedule.”
Explaining the process, Isaacs noted that if an agency fails to appear after receiving an invitation from the committee secretary, the congressional secretary will send a letter to the agency stressing the importance of their appearance before the committee. If the agency still refuses to appear before the committee, the congressional secretary will seek the help of the Supreme Court clerk to build momentum by issuing a subpoena requiring their appearance.
The summons will be issued under the Evidence Act:If anyone is called to testify, the Legislative Council, without good cause, refuses or neglects to attend at the time and place specified in the summons, the Council may issue a writ in Form 2 in the Schedule, or in any other form as the case may require, signed by an officer performing the duties of secretary to the Council, authorizing and directing the Registrar or any bailiff to arrest such person and detain him until he is brought before the Council.”
At the parliamentary departmental meeting, members unanimously agreed that the parliamentary secretary should expedite the process of the institutions appearing before the court.
In April, during an AFC press conference, Hughes explained that the committee sent a request to ExxonMobil through Isaacs, asking it to follow established procedures. However, the MP said that when the AFC asked if ExxonMobil would attend, they were told that Isaacs had requested a copy of the letter sent to ExxonMobil by the Prime Minister’s Office.
At the time, she told reporters, “As members of the committee, we know that we have been sending letters since November of last year, so we are extending the deadline to six months, and of course, although we asked you to recommend a date if you could not appear on the proposed date, the subsequent letters simply said we could not appear.” The congressman called it “completely unacceptable” for ExxonMobil and the EPA to evade scrutiny because it affects the principles of transparency and accountability.
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