The Guyana Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (GYEITI) Secretariat held the first in a series of consultative engagements for 2023 with a technical workshop for government reporting agencies on Tuesday January 31, 2023.
The workshop’s overarching objective was to ensure that these agencies are in a state of readiness to work with the Independent Administrator on the timely provision of accurate and verified data requested for the preparation of the FY2020 EITI report.
The report which is due to be completed by May 31, 2023, will disclose what payments Extractive companies made to government agencies and also what government agencies received from those Extractive companies. The report will also publish production data for the oil and gas and mineral sectors for the year 2020 and in addition, will make a number of recommendations for achieving the EITI requirements.
At the workshop, participants were given a brief overview on EITI and its aims and objectives, the EITI reporting process, EITI Validation, the importance of data accuracy and the need for dedicated staff to ensure data is provided.
The presentation by the GYEITI Secretariat included information as to what agencies needed to consider when engaging with the Independent Administrator, the need for timely, accurate and verified data, the need for dedicated staff who will interface with the IA and the GYEITI Secretariat, the validation outcome and the corrective measures and the need for continued engagement to address the many issues that have been brought to the fore.
The half-day session saw the attendance of representatives from the following agencies:
- Guyana Forestry Commission
- Guyana Geology and Mines Commission
- Guyana Gold Board
- Guyana Revenue Authority
- National Insurance Scheme
- Deeds and Commercial Registry Authority
- Environmental Protection Agency
- Audit Office of Guyana
During the open discussion, the representatives of the agencies voiced their concern on a number of issues with regards to the completion of the data submission templates and noted that they will need capacity-building assistance to enable them to complete this task as expected. They noted that the assignment can be a challenging one without the necessary guidance and the Secretariat committed to being available to respond to queries and provide clarification where possible. It was observed too that there is need for a common identifier number that could be used by all reporting agencies for the accurate collection of fees. It was suggested that the agencies have further collaboration to know what each other is engaged in.
Among the outcomes of the event was the continued collaboration between the agencies and the Secretariat to ensure the timely provision of information and to address issues as they arise.
The GYEITI intends to intensify its engagement activities with a number of stakeholders in the extractive sectors and the public at large in 2023 as it rolls out its work plan activities.