Public urged to examine positives of new Natural Resource Fund Act by Shuman

Member of Parliament and Deputy Speaker and, Lenox Shuman, has complimented the Guyana
Government on the Natural Resource Fund Act 2021, which was passed into law in December.
Shuman said that after careful examination of the legislation, he is urging the public to examine
the positives of the Act.
“While I am constrained in Parliament, by the joinder agreement which binds the tri-party
agreement and voting, I express my support for the NRF bill. It is my view that the criticism of
the government is misplaced in the Bill’s content but is justified on its process,” the MP and
Deputy Speaker said. Shuman said his views are captured in an open letter to several media
houses.
He noted that the replacement of NRF Act 2019 with NRF Act 2021 mainly serves to establish a
new governance mechanism in the form of a board of directors, to reduce overly bureaucratic
provisions, and to simplify the rules governing withdrawals.The first time legislator noted that
ultimately, the aim is to ensure greater accountability, transparency, and prudent governance of
the fund with the apex oversight body being the National Assembly, and the Public Accounts
Committee as its informative tool. “Those are further supported by the Bank of Guyana, the
Board of Directors, and the National Procurement and Tender Board Administration, all in
conjunction with the Ministry of Finance, and all of these are included in the Bill and all are
legal entities,” he stressed
He explained that the Act allows for a withdrawal of the total balance of the Fund in its first
fiscal year. In a December press statement responding to a criticism of the Fund, the Ministry of
Finance had said it is necessary for the government to use Guyana’s resources to fund its
development agenda, instead of relying on debt. Shuman agrees with this position. Shuman
praised the government for sticking to its principled position of refusing to spend the oil funds,
for nearly two years, until after the revamping of the legislation. “That they took no such
opportunity [to make withdrawals] and instead delayed it to better gauge the fiscal needs and
trajectory of the country, no doubt signals their intent to be responsible and prudent managers of
the economy,” he reiterated.
Shuman expressed disappointment in the manner in how the APNU+AFC coalition expressed its
disagreement with the law. “The attempted theft of the 2020 election does not give rise to an
environment that fosters consensus-building on anything in Parliament, as one party seems bent
on creating a destabilising environment as is continuously demonstrated by their actions and
behaviour in Parliament, and the other is asked to govern in that environment,” Shuman said,
The parliamentarian and deputy speaker declared that he had hoped for a more consultative
process, but that the reality is that the country suffered tremendously over the last three years,
from the events following the December 2018 No Confidence Motion, the five-month electoral
impasse, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the unprecedented flooding. He added that the NRF Act
should be part of the machinery used to ensure the benefits of the oil and gas industry meet all
citizens.