Govt playing hard to get with oil and gas information

The government has been accused of a lack of transparency on access to information, particularly on oil and gas.

Civil society organisations have warned that the lack of information on the oil and gas sector undermines the public’s right to know.

Following concerns raised about transparency in petroleum licensing at the Eco Dialogue oversight and accountability event in Windhoek last month, The Namibian reached out to various stakeholders for information on petroleum exploration licences and was sent from pillar to post.

The Namibian has been similarly unable to obtain petroleum licence information from the government.

Institute for Public Policy Research director Graham Hopwood says oil and gas exploration could transform Namibia’s economy, however, up-to-date information is hard to access.

“When critical information such as this is outdated or unavailable, it undermines transparency and public trust. Citizens should not have to rely on foreign company websites to understand what is happening in Namibia’s own oil and gas sector,” he says.

Frederico Links of Action Coalition says it is the government’s prerogative to proactively disclose basic, up-to-date information.

“It’s been so difficult to get information about who the entities involved in this are. For the most part, beneficial ownership data has been an opaque area where it’s unclear who operates these companies, where they are listed, and so forth,” Links says.

The National Petroleum Corporation of Namibia (Namcor) regularly publishes a licence map that lists the operators of petroleum exploration licences in Namibia, which was last updated in January.

However, the licence does not include information on who additional stakeholders in each licence are.

Namcor spokesperson Paulo Coelho says although Namcor publishes licence maps, detailed information should be requested from the Ministry of Industries, Mines and Energy.

“They’re the ones that issue the licences and handle renewals thereof,” he says.

The mines ministry was this week unable to provide licence information.

An official said the mandate for upstream petroleum is held by the newly-formed Upstream Petroleum Unit (UPU) within the Office of the Presidency.

This unit will take over control of oil and gas exploration once the new Petroleum Act has been passed by the parliament.

While the act has not been passed, upstream petroleum still resorts under the mines ministry.

When reached via phone earlier this week, a UPU official directed The Namibian to the Presidency for questions about oil licences. The Presidency did not respond to repeated requests for comment by the time of going to print.

Another official within the UPU said the Office of the Petroleum Commissioner would be able to provide the requested information.

The commissioner’s office, however, yesterday declined to speak to The Namibian and requested that all information requests are directed to the commissioner.

Petroleum commissioner Maggy Shino did not respond to phone calls or emails sent to her by the time of going to print.

‘CORNERSTONE OF DEMOCRACY’

Editor’s Forum of Namibia chairperson Toivo Ndjebela says sharing information proactively with the public should be a cornerstone of democratic governance.

“Many government institutions appear willing to interact with the media only when they have events or announcements to promote. Yet when journalists initiate enquiries on matters of national importance, those requests often go unanswered,” he says.

Although Ndjebela credits a few portfolios – including those of finance, works, environment, and information and communication technology – for their accessibility, he says engaging the majority of ministries is a challenge.

“The media seeks information to pass it on to the very public the government says it serves. Withholding that information amounts to a deliberate denial of the public’s right to know,” he says.

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