Govt. breaches NRF Act less than a month after passage

Feb 06, 2022 News

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…as Opposition contends inclusion of oil funds in Budget illegal

Kaieteur News – Less than a month after government questionably approved and passed the new Natural Resources Fund (NRF) Act, the administration is already in breach of the new law with the inclusion of $126B from the fund, included as Budgetary support for 2022.

This was among the key reasons proffered by Former Opposition Leader Joseph Harmon, who wrapped up the debates on behalf of the political opposition this year.
Notably, his presentation was virtually and was attended by only government members of the House present in the National Assembly since his colleague opposition members of Parliament had exited the dome of the Arthur Chung Conference Centre (ACCC) for his presentation.
Nonetheless, the former Opposition Leader pressed ahead with his presentation and on the matter of oil and gas and the NRF Act, Harmon indicated to the House, “on our national patrimony there is significant disagreement on approach to deal with oil and gas issues.”
To this end, he reminded that despite the numerous calls including a petition submitted to the House calling for further consultations on the Bill, the administration was proposing to repeal the NRF Act passed by the David Granger-led administration in 2019.
According to Harmon, what the administration did, despite the numerous calls for consultation, was to use its one-seat majority to railroad the NRF Act, replacing it with its own, reducing oversight in the process.
Civil society groups spoke about the poor governance structure of the Bill, he said, as he reminded of the petition submitted seeking to halt the passage of the Bill.
“Amidst this national outcry, this government ignored the Guyanese people,” according to Harmon, who went on to note that “they needed the (oil) money to prop up the biggest budget ever.”
To this end, he was adamant that the Minister within the Office of the President with responsibility for Finance, Dr. Ashni Singh must inform the House what specifically the $126B would be funding since it’s not enough to just say the money will be used for Budgetary support.
As such, he used the occasion to point out that even the now extant NRF Legislation provides conditions for withdrawals from the fund, specifically for national development priorities and essential projects that are directly related to natural disasters and such.
Highlighting at least two articles published by the Kaietuer News pointing to the legitimacy of the inclusion of the oil revenue into the Budget directly, Harmon pointed to the same two provisions in the Act namely Article 16 which spells out the requirements and Article 19 which provides further guidance.
According to Harmon, as highlighted by eminent professionals such as Chartered Accountants Christopher Ram and Tarron Khemraj and Former Auditor General, Anand Goolsarran, “they fail to realise that they are suppose to state what it will be used for.”
He was adamant, the legislation provides that before you draw the money from the account “you should state what it is used for.”
Having perused the estimates, Harmon said there is no such inclusion of at least a statement, outlining the reasons for which the money has been withdrawn and quipped, “…in less than a month they are in defiance of the same Act because they want to get their hands on the money.”
He posited that the administration was acting as if it “must answer to no one; the people are watching”
As such, he sought to caution government that, “action speaks louder than the words.”
The former Opposition Leader was adamant that Dr. Singh must inform the House whether any of the oversight committees required by the NRF had been established prior to the money being withdrawn from the NRF and deposited into the Consolidated Fund as Budget support.
According to Harmon, in the current state of affairs, you cannot have good governance where there is no scrutiny, no checks and balances.”
This state of affairs, he said allows space for acts of corruption in spending of a $553B budget and quipped there is no doubt as to why Guyana declined on the Corruption Perception Index.
Allocations have been made to drive programmes he said, but reminded that the glue to bind them and make sure they are successful “is the way in which the governance structure functions.”
Adumbrating the opposition’s non-support for the 2022 Budget, Harmon insisted that Budget 2022 was not only visionless but aimed at enriching “themselves, family and friends while the other Guyanese” are treated with scant regard and disdain—the working class, the poor.
He did quip however, that the reality is that Dr. Singh is not to be blamed for the Budget since he was asked to present a Budget to the country based on a plan by his bosses at the Office of the President—a plan that is visionless. He added, “just as how you can’t sign the $2,000 bill, you now have to face [the] ire of the nation for a budget that has no vision.”

 

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