With regard to an article that appeared on page 3A of the Sunday Sun of February 3, 2013 under the caption Data Gone!, which, inter alia stated "millions of dollars worth of seismic data on Barbados’ critical oil industry have been reported missing from the Division of Energy and Telecommunications",?? the Department has issued the following response.
The matter in question is now subject to an on-going police investigation, hence the Division is not in a position to engage in a detailed discussion at this time.
However, it is important to stress that while a hard drive containing seismic data was discovered to be missing from the Division, as part of sensible IT policy, a complete backup of this data had been created.?? Consequently, the Division has assured the public and its existing and potential stakeholders in Barbados’ offshore sector that it remains open for such business.??
As is known, the purchase of seismic data from the Division of Energy and Telecommunications of the Prime Minister’s Office is always a precursor to the establishment of relationships between the Government of Barbados and entities desirous of exploring the potential of Barbados’ valuable offshore acreage.