Guyana’s ongoing...

FROM PAGE 11 rupt government deals and shady business practices but it is critical to understand that such audits in large international business deals are routine, not punitive.

The audit process is a good-faith arrangement between the government and companies and an important pillar of transparency and governmental oversight of the oil and gas industry. It is just one of many activities taking place under the Ministry of Natural Resources Guyana Oil and Gas Capacity-Building Project.

Additionally, this process has also been an opportunity for a wealth of knowledge-building as the contract for the second cost recovery audit done by the local consortium included provisions for knowledge transfer. This lets local accounting firms learn auditing best practices from international partners about the complex cost recovery audit process. The GRA is also steadily improving its own capacity to conduct cost audit reviews internally for the oil sector.

Understandably, a delay in the availability of audit results can unfortunately be fertile ground for false conclusions. However, some misconceptions are mere cases of misinterpretation. For example, the Minister of Natural Resources, Vickram Bharrat during his budget presentation this past February speaking to the concerns around timing of the second au- dit report said, “I think from the inception when the contract was signed there was a bit of misunderstanding. In the contract it says 120 working days and I think there was a lot of misconception… that it would be 120 running days or calendar days, but its 120 working days.”

As we wait for the final reports, it is worth emphasising that once the audits are completed, they’ll be made public and submitted to the Auditor General’s Office for public inspection. Some things take time, including a transparent and diligent auditing process. Until then, Guyanese should take pride in our ability to consistently maintain international standards.