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Just about total control of oil wealth

Jan 14, 2022 Editorial

Kaieteur News – We pointed to it from Day One when the NRF 2021 Bill first made its shocking late year appearance, and was still to be finalised into law. From the inception, we had it right, and as more of the finer underlying arrangements come to light, the more disgusted it sounds, smells, and looks. In a nutshell, this Natural Resource Fund Act of 2021, as it currently stands, is an abomination. And we say this because there is almost total control of its Board of Directors in the dirty hands and dirty minds of Guyanese politicians. This is a recipe not just for disaster and tragedy but also for societal deterioration and eventual collapse.
It does not matter who is the minister of the hour, or the government (political party) that is in power, but as this repulsive law now stands, the responsibility for naming the majority on the NRF Board of Directors will be in the hands of those in power who call the shots. In other words, name three out of the five voting members, and that is in the end of the story. We say not to get carried away by investment committee and other layers, for they would be little else but creatures of the people in power, and we are all familiar with how credible and ethical they have been.
We also recommend that our fellow citizens do not get bogged down in those other red herrings that have their purpose. As examples, those who must have considerable experience in law, finance, and business, among other requirements or those would not be eligible because of either conflict or medical fitness or general unsuitability. These are all shams, from teams of men who sat down and studied how to help themselves to the nation’s wealth.
Now, it’s off to the races with more of their wastages at best, or massive corruptions at worst. Opposition and civil society can talk cheese, but the game is over. The rest of us can talk about ex-officio and sub-committees and expert advisors and voting and non-voting power, but we and this nation will be in the same leaking boat. That is, shedding tears, and now belatedly wishing for the best.
For what would be firmly in place are handpicked men, who are given their marching orders on what is expected of them. Further, all Guyana can rest assured presently that those selected (screened carefully and smartly cherry-picked) would only be of a certain kind of mentality, and will know what to do and when. What is going to be in place are men and women, who form a rubberstamp board, and who will be untroubled by any degree of criticism of their deliberations and work.
The leaders in Government would say that every provision in the law was followed and they would even be so barefaced as to say, if not challenge, critics to identify which local law or part of the NRF law of 2021 has been violated. And that this is how the democratic process works. The powers of the day will also point out that the decision-making process on the Board itself is independent and free of leadership interference. It is what they have been saying of Guyana’s meaningless Environmental Protection Agency, and of other bodies with crucial national responsibilities. But as most Guyanese know by now that is a stable loaded with horse dung.
Thus, we urge fellow citizens to pay attention, get involved, and even to get angry. Because if we get so complacent and so disengaged as to say and do nothing, then the oil money is as good as gone, with nothing to show for it, but the regrets of having done nothing to safeguard the interests of our children and their children. To say it in the kind of language that our fellow Guyanese would easily understand: cat would eat not just our dinner, but breakfast and lunch and just about every day. Of course, there may be the fallback option of hoping for a job as a cleaner or driver or shoe shiner with the foreigners ripping us off or of obtaining a visa from the United States Embassy and starting over in America.

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