Dear Editor,
In my Stabroek News column # 177 published yesterday reflecting on the journey of writing on Guyana’s oil and gas sector, I acknowledged several individuals and institutions that helped sustain the national conversation on petroleum governance.[1] I regret, however, that I failed to acknowledge a media house that played an important role in bringing many of those issues to a wider audience.
Over the years Kaieteur News, under the leadership of its publisher Mr. Glenn Lall, frequently drew on several of my oil and gas columns as the basis for investigative reports and news stories. In doing so, the newspaper helped extend the reach of those analyses and placed matters relating to petroleum contracts, fiscal arrangements and transparency before a broader section of the Guyanese public.
Reporters such as Ms. Kiana Wilburg, Davina Bagot and their colleagues deserve particular recognition for the diligence with which they pursued those stories. I therefore owe and extend to them a personal apology.
With the closure of Stabroek News, the space for independent scrutiny of public policy inevitably narrows.[2] The responsibility for informed and fearless journalism therefore becomes even more important. It is my sincere hope that media institutions, especially Kaieteur News, will continue to carry forward the task of informing the public and asking the difficult questions that democratic accountability requires.