Guyana Anti Corruption Network

**FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE**

### Guyana Anti-Corruption Network Urges Transparency and Full Consultation as Oil Company Courts Indigenous Communities, Jeopardising Conservation Success

**Georgetown, Guyana –** The Guyana Anti-Corruption Network (GACN) today issued a strong call for the Government of Guyana to ensure absolute transparency and adherence to the principle of Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC) following reports that a local oil company with international ties has commenced engagements with Indigenous villages for onshore drilling in the Rupununi.

The warning comes in the wake of three significant developments concerning Karasabai Village and the wider North Rupununi, raising serious questions about the government’s long-term strategy for the region and the potential for environmental and social harm.

**The Engagement: A “No” from Community Leaders**
On March 8, 2026, Kaieteur News reported that Cataleya Petroleum Inc. has begun approaching Indigenous leaders, starting with a February 28 meeting in Karasabai, Region Nine, to discuss plans for exploration in the ‘Hunt Oil Stretch’ within the Takatu Block.

Alarmingly, the response from community leadership has been unequivocal. Michael Williams, Chairman of the North Rupununi District Development Board (NRDDB), which represents over 8,000 residents, stated plainly: **”We are not going to support it… For the people of North Rupununi we give a no-no to this.”**

Mr. Williams expressed deep concern that the company’s overtures are an attempt to “buy the people to say yes.” He highlighted several critical issues:
* The proposed drilling site is adjacent to the vital Santa Fe agricultural area.
* The absence of representatives from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) or the Ministry of Natural Resources at the engagement.
* A glaring legal vacuum, as he suspects there is “no legal framework to govern such activities onshore.”
* A direct conflict with long-standing community efforts, supported by a World Bank initiative, to protect the North Rupununi Wetlands.

**The Airstrip: Development or Enabler?**
These community concerns must be viewed in the context of a major government infrastructure project announced just two months prior. On January 16, 2026, it was disclosed that Karasabai Village would receive a **$993 million upgraded airstrip**. The project, executed by the Ministry of Public Works, will create a 3,000ft concrete runway with night-operational lighting and a parking area for five aircraft.

While marketed as a development boon for the community, GACN views this multi-million-dollar investment through a more cautious lens. The timing and scale of this airstrip upgrade—one of several major hinterland aerodrome projects—raises a pivotal question: **Is this infrastructure being built for the community, or is it being built to service an imminent industrial operation that the community has now explicitly rejected?**

**A Sanctuary Under Siege: The Sun Parakeets of Karasabai**
The threat from this proposed development extends beyond agricultural land and wetlands to one of Guyana’s most remarkable conservation success stories. As reported by the Guyana Chronicle in May 2025, Karasabai Village is uniquely known as the “home of the sun parakeet,” a golden bird once driven to the brink of extinction by trapping.

For decades, the community has worked to protect this natural wonder. Former Toshao Andrew Albert, a lifelong guardian of the bird, helped establish the Sun-kissed Parakeet Rangers Programme in 2019. In partnership with One Earth Conservation, 20 rangers were certified, and a Memorandum of Understanding was signed to conserve the birds as a protected species. A 2019 survey counted 406 sun parakeets in the Karasabai farmlands and surrounding areas—a fragile population that is now under direct threat.

Industrial oil exploration, with its seismic surveys, heavy machinery, risk of spills, and increased human traffic, poses an existential danger to this delicate habitat. The very farmlands where the community has painstakingly documented the birds’ foraging habits could be transformed into an industrial zone. The rangers’ work to educate poachers and protect the birds risks being undone not by traps, but by trucks and drill bits.

**International Dimensions and Ethical Concerns**
GACN has learned that Cataleya Petroleum Inc., while a locally registered company, has connections that raise profound ethical questions. The company is linked to Ratio Energy, a group with reported operations in Israel. This connection inextricably ties the proposed drilling in the Rupununi to a state whose military actions in Gaza have been condemned globally, with the International Court of Justice recently finding it “plausible” that Israel’s acts could amount to genocide.

For the Indigenous communities of the Rupununi, this is not an abstract geopolitical issue. It forces them to confront a disturbing question: **Should they allow their ancestral lands—a sanctuary for globally significant biodiversity—to be opened up by a company whose associates are linked to a campaign of destruction and occupation in the Middle East?** As communities in Gaza face the obliteration of their homes, environment, and lives, the people of Karasabai are being asked to welcome a company with ties to that conflict.

**GACN’s Position and Call to Action**
The Guyana Anti-Corruption Network sees a dangerous and morally compromised pattern emerging: significant state resources are being deployed to upgrade access to Indigenous lands, paving the way for extractive industries connected to international actors with troubling human rights records, and all before a proper legal framework, environmental impact assessment, or community consent has been secured.

“The people of the North Rupununi have spoken clearly—they are not interested in repeating the mistakes of offshore oil on their ancestral lands, and they certainly did not fight for decades to protect the sun parakeet only to have it threatened by a company with such connections,” said a spokesperson for GACN. “Yet, we see a classic ‘carrot and stick’ approach. On one hand, a private company dangles promises. On the other, the government spends nearly a billion dollars on infrastructure that overwhelmingly benefits an industrial developer. Where is the benefit for the villager, the parakeet ranger, or the integrity of a wetland they have fought to protect for 25 years?”

GACN is therefore calling on the Government of Guyana, the EPA, and the Ministry of Natural Resources to:
1. **Immediately halt** all engagement and consideration of onshore oil blocks until a specific and robust legal framework for onshore operations is presented to and passed by the National Assembly.
2. **Publicly clarify** the intended purpose of the $993M Karasabai airstrip upgrade and confirm whether its specifications were influenced by, or designed to accommodate, the logistical needs of future oil and gas exploration.
3. **Mandate** that the EPA lead all future community engagements, ensuring communities have access to independent legal and scientific advice, not just information provided by the proponent.
4. **Conduct a full, independent review** of the shareholders and international affiliations of Cataleya Petroleum Inc. and any partner companies, including Ratio Energy, to assess the ethical and reputational risks of permitting such actors to operate on Indigenous lands.
5. **Respect the unequivocal “no”** voiced by the democratically elected leadership of the North Rupununi District Development Board, upholding the international standard of Free, Prior, and Informed Consent.

GACN reiterates that while national development is necessary, it cannot come at the expense of Indigenous rights, internationally significant biodiversity, environmental integrity, and the rule of law. We will continue to monitor this situation closely.

**Contact:**
Mark Jacobs
Communication Director
Guyana Anti-Corruption Network
media@guyanaintegrity.com

**About GACN:** The Guyana Anti-Corruption Network is a coalition of civil society organizations dedicated to promoting transparency, accountability, and good governance in Guyana.