However, at the launch of the report in Baghdad yesterday, to which neither the KRG nor the senior supervising World Bank official was invited, the Iraq-EITI council presented a document from which the chapter on the Kurdistan Region had been unilaterally removed. The report was launched in the presence of EITI Chair Clare Short, the former UK Minister for International Development.
The KRG believes this underhand tactic has set back the cause of transparency for the Iraqi people. It has also damaged the reputation of EITI for not ensuring impartiality in the revenue reporting process.
Regrettably, it appears that a process supposed to promote transparency has been lost in the fog of political manipulation by some officials in Baghdad.
The KRG remains committed to the goals and principles of EITI and, in the cause of full transparency, has decided to publish the deleted chapter on its website.
The KRG believes the issues surrounding transparency in Iraq’s petroleum and mining sector are too important to be left in the hands of politically motivated individuals.
Therefore, to ensure no such repetition of this unfortunate incident occurs, to cover the year 2011, the KRG will seek to engage a reputable third-party organisation to engage with stakeholders in Kurdistan Region and oversee the production of a full and uncensored KRG oil and gas transparency report that will bear scrutiny under the guiding principles of EITI.
To read the chapter Iraq-EITI did not want you to see click here. Chapter 7 deals with the KRG.
(Source: KRG)
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