Victor Hart calls for EITI legislation

Hart issued this call at a EITI seminar held at Tower D of the Port-of- Spain International Waterfront Centre on Monday.

Noting the EITI is currently in its sixth year of implementation, Hart said the accrued benefits to Government, companies and civil society, “attest that it has been a success.” However Hart said for the EITI to have sustained success going forward, “it needs to be embedded in the country’s legal framework.” He explained, “An EITI Act will facilitate the efficient implementation of the EITI, by making companies’ participation mandatory, instead of voluntary as now obtains, and by removing the confidentiality restriction of the Income Tax Act.” On this particular issue, Hart said former energy minister Nicole Olivierre made a request to Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi to add the Committee’s name to the Auditor- General to be given exemption from the confidentiality restrictions.

Hart also said the Auditor General is also currently denied access to revenue receipt records at the Energy Ministry.

He hoped that parliamentarians will find the contents of the EITI report helpful when they participate in the Budget debate on matters relating to the oil, gas and quarry sectors.

Hart added the EITI is the best assurance that TT is collecting the full revenues for which it is entitled from the energy sector.

He said the annual EITI audit of company payments and government receipts is a major disincentive to corruption in the sector.