Withdraw amendment to remove 22-member oversight committee – Dr. Jerry Jailall

Dec 15, 2021 News

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Kaieteur News – Canadian-based Guyanese, Dr. Jerry Jailall has called on the government to withdraw its proposed amendment to the Natural Resources Fund (NRF) Act, which seeks to dismantle the 22-member oversight stakeholder group.

Dr. Jailall in a public missive said, the administration should instead be seeking to enact more policies to safeguard the funds, garnered through oil and gas.
“I call on the government to withdraw the amendment to dismantle the 22-member stakeholder group, and enact more, not less ‘sunshine’ provisions, for managing the people’s oil fund,” he said.
Dr. Jailall posited, the fund was sitting dormant in a New York account, to allow the now administration time, to devise a plan on how to take control of it.
The overseas citizen, who has been vocal with regard to transparency matters, used the occasion to make the point, “…now we know why after a year and a half, the Guyana Natural Resource Fund (NRF)—the money we get from oil—held in a New York bank was not activated and the oil money was just sitting there not earning any interest.”
According to Dr. Jailall, it appears as if the government was figuring out how to have sole authority and unbridled power to spend the oil money and to hell with Guyanese stakeholders.”
Last week, Vice President, Bharrat Jagdeo had signalled the government’s intent to remove the 22-member oversight committee, which oversees the fund, citing that this group makes it “almost impossible to operationalise” the fund.
In this regard, he said the government will therefore make four major sets of changes in the NRF legislation, with the first being the removal of the oversight committee consisting of 22 organisations.
The Committee, according to the extant law, was expected to include a representative from civil society organisations and community-based organisations, the Bar Association of Guyana, the Guyana Consumer’s Association; the Guyana Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), the Transparency International Guyana Inc. (TIGI) and the Guyana Press Association, among others.
As a consequence, Dr. Jailall called on Guyanese to resist this move and to call on the government to withdraw what he described, as an ‘ill-conceived proposed amendment’.
According to Dr. Jailall, “what Mr. Fred Collins of TIGI (Transparency Institute of Guyana, Inc.) calls the original sin, whereby the Coalition Government signed a giveaway contract of our most valuable resource in the country, happened because of secrecy, trickery, and lack of discussion with the Opposition in Parliament and no consultation with stakeholders.”
He said, it was a “treasonous” move by the government to hand over billions in resources to a foreign corporation when the majority of its people are poor and destitute.
“This lack of transparency and accountability is a problem to be solved, not something to be perpetuated. When the PNC did it, that was wrong, and it’s also wrong if the PPP wants to do the same thing,” he reasoned.
In fact, Dr. Jailall contends that one party should never again be allowed to engage in the signing of “big deals” and spending large sums of taxpayers’ money without bringing such matters to Parliament, and involving Guyanese civic groups and stakeholders to review these projects.
The Guyanese activist argued, “we cannot give ultimate power to one man in the “PPP’s Engine Room” to treat the NRF as a personal “piggy bank…at a time when concerned groups are lamenting the poor governance of oil and gas, and the lack of transparency and accountability.”
To this end, he said the PPP’s proposal to dismantle the 22-member NRF Board is not only a backward move but “it shows the simple contempt the government has for the people of Guyana in oil and gas matters.”
He added, “…clearly, the PPP wants to march to the beat of its own drum and does not seem prepared to listen to anyone. Mr. President, for a government hanging by a thread with a one-seat majority, this misguided direction renders your One Guyana slogan as worthless.”
According to Dr. Jailall, in dismantling the 22-member stakeholder group, half of Guyana is removed from the decision-making process. The move, he said, is not only reckless but shows wanton disregard for Guyana’s responsibility in adhering to the Constitution.
Additionally, Dr. Jailall noted it is a violation of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) Principles, the Santiago Principles, and the Escazú Accord to which Guyana is a signatory.
The Santiago Principles promote transparency, good governance, accountability and prudent investment practices, whilst encouraging a more open dialogue and deeper understanding of Sovereign Wealth Fund activities. The Escazú Agreement is one of the most effective tools for holding States accountable, defending rights, and protecting the health of people and of the planet.

 

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