Mr Ramson is disrespecting the whole country — Christopher Ram — Opinion

Mr Ramson is disrespecting the whole country

October 16, 2026·1 min read

Dear Editor,

In October 2025 Ms Danuta Radzik and Ms Elizabeth Deane Hughes asked the Commissioner of Information for records on the Gas-to-Energy project and on hazardous waste from the oil platforms.^[1] The law gave him sixty days. A year later he has not decided.

Ms Radzik wrote to him again, relying on Justice Nicola Pierre’s ruling of 28 September^[2]. The ruling found that he had acted unlawfully on my own requests and ordered him to decide them within sixty days. She was entitled to expect decency from a former Justice of Appeal and Attorney General. Instead, Mr Charles Ramson Sr. calls her “Comrade” and dismisses one of our outstanding judges as “a puisne Judge”, inferior to judges of “exceptional, superior vintage”. He will wait, he says, for “final judicial directions”.

Stripped of its ornate language, his letter says this: I will continue to draw over a million dollars a month of taxpayers’ money, and I will have practically nothing to show for it. That has been his record for a decade.

This is contempt for a citizen, for the Court and for the President. President Irfaan Ali never tires of boasting of his Government’s commitment to the rule of law, transparency and democracy. The Access to Information Act is his party’s law. The Commissioner is his appointee, and the President has the power to remove him.

If Mr Ramson will not carry out the law, he should step aside for someone who will. If he will not go and the President does nothing, citizens can draw only one of two conclusions. Either the President cannot control his own appointee, or Mr Ramson is doing exactly what the Government wants: keeping the people in the dark about oil and gas.

Mr Ramson is disrespecting the whole country. It is time for the President to show who is the boss.

Yours faithfully,
Christopher Ram

References

Access to Information Act 2011 – Guyana Oil and Gas Change — guyanaoilandgaschange.org ↩
Ram Wins Key High Court Ruling on Govt Accountability, Access to Information – Village Voice News — villagevoicenews.com ↩

Access to Information Act 2011 – Guyana Oil and Gas Change

guyanaoilandgaschange.org · 2025-11-02

On October 22, 2025, a request was made to Justice Charles R. Ramson, SC., OR Commissioner of Information for ten (10) documents. This request, hand delivered to the Office of the Commissioner of Information at 340 East Street; Georgetown was made under Section 12(1) and section 16 of Access to Information Act 2011. ... Copy of the Environmental Permit for the 300 MW Gas to Energy Power Plant Request for Gas to Energy Proposals (RFPs) for design, finance and operations of project Copy of the Environmental Permit for the NGL Gas to Energy Plant Updated Environmental and Social Baseline Study as required in Environmental Permit No. 2021528-NGPLE – Gas to Energy Project Terms of Reference missing from Environmental Permit No. 2021528-NGPLE -Gas to Energy Project Feasibility Study for Associated Gas – (as required in 2016 PSA Section 12) Copies of Environmental Permits for: Schlumberger Guyana Inc. Tiger Rentals Guyana Inc. Sustainable Environmental Solutions Inc. Guyana Professional Waste Solutions Inc. (PWSI) Copies of EPA-EMD2012HWRRF1R1- Recording and Reporting Form of Hazardous Wastes (For New and Existing Operations) – Oil & Gas Companies for Years 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025 Certification of all marine vessels transporting hazardous wastes from offshore platforms to onshore hazardous waste management facilities by Guyana’s Environmental Protection agency in keeping with environmental permits for Liza 1, 2, Payara, Yellowtail, oil and gas platforms for the years 2020 to 2025 Certification of all road transportation vehicles transporting chemicals and hazardous materials to onshore facilities and bonds as certified by Pesticides and Toxic Chemicals Control Board Guidelines for Pesticide and Toxic Chemicals Transport Permits for the years 2020 to 2025. The letter requested that documents be provided electronically and if any request was refused, to provide the legal basis for the refusal and details of the right to appeal. The letter thanked the Commissioner of Information for his cooperation and looked forward to a response at the Commissioner’s earliest convenience. ... given and appropriate ... S 7(a) (i) – Powers of the Commissioner of Information the “Commissioner of Information ... the power to ... a public authority to take any steps as may be necessary to secure compliance with the provisions of this Act including (i) by providing access to information, if so requested in a particular form.” Section 12(1) and (2) – Right to Access to Information says, “Notwithstanding any law to the contrary and subject to the provisions of this information act, it shall be the right of every citizen or person domiciled in Guyana to obtain access to an official document.” (2) “The Minister may, by order, extend the right to be given to official documents under subsection (1) to include persons not referred to in that subsection and may set such conditions as the Minister deems appropriate ... In Section 1 ... (1), and (2) on ... to Make a Request the Act states, “A ... who wished to obtain access to an official document shall ... request in the form (a) and (b). These ... detail to enable ... of the public authority ... is familiar with the ... identify the document with reasonable ... “ We took special note of the Guyana Standard and Guyana Times ... 19, 2025, which ... according to the PPP/C’s ... /C govt will fully enforce the Access to Information Act. Unfortunately, this was not our experience and we call on the relevant ... the relevant PPP ... C Government and all other ... to ensure that this request for information as set out in the Access to Information Act is followed and ... available and we as well as ... who may have been denied access to documents and ... receive these as are our rights under Guyana’s Access to Information Act ... 011. Yours sincerely, Danuta Radzik Elizabeth Deane Hughes and other members of civil society

Source

Mr Ramson is disrespecting the whole country in Kiskadee Watch, October 16, 2026

Ram Wins Key High Court Ruling on Govt Accountability, Access to Information – Village Voice News

villagevoicenews.com · 2026-09-29

In a ruling delivered on September 28, 2026, Justice Nicola Pierre found that Commissioner of Information Charles Ramson Sr. is a “ public authority” under Guyana’s Access to Information Act and that three requests made by accountant and attorney Christopher Ram were effectively refused after the Commissioner failed to determine them within the statutory period. The ruling does not order the immediate release of the information sought. Instead, it requires the Commissioner to process and determine the requests in accordance with the law within 60 days. ... A central issue was the Commissioner’s insistence that Ram first approach the public authority believed to possess the requested information. Justice Pierre rejected that approach. The court found that the Access to Information Act does not impose such a preliminary requirement. The Commissioner had therefore attempted to impose an additional procedural step that the Act does not provide. ... The court also examined the statutory deadline governing information requests. Under section 18, the Commissioner must advise an applicant whether access is approved or denied within 60 days. An extension is possible, but the applicant must be informed of it and the reasons for the extension. Justice Pierre found that none of Ram’s three requests was approved or denied within the required period and that no valid extension was communicated. The court therefore held that the statutory consequence of deemed refusal applied. ... The Commissioner had also argued that his office was not a public authority under section 2 of the Act. Justice Pierre rejected that argument. The court examined the statutory structure of the office, including its creation by law, government financial and administrative support and statutory reporting arrangements. The judge concluded that the Commissioner performs statutory functions on behalf of the State. > “I find that the Commissioner of Information is a public authority within the meaning of section 2 of the Access to Information Act 2011.” The court also rejected the suggestion that Ram’s request for records concerning the Commissioner’s office was an attempt to make the Commissioner “self-oversee.” The requested reports and records form part of the statutory reporting framework established under the Act. ... Importantly, the judgment does not declare that Ram is automatically entitled to every document requested. Justice Pierre said the court would not determine in the first instance whether Ram was entitled to the documents. That responsibility remains with the Commissioner under the Access to Information Act. The Commissioner must now process all three requests and make actual statutory determinations within 60 days. If access is granted, the information must be provided in accordance with the Act. If access is refused, the Commissioner must provide the written notice and reasons required by law.