-criticises Campbell’s arguments
Addressing recent criticisms on the structure of the Natural Resource Fund (NRF), Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo yesterday said that the only time a direct breakdown of funds spent will be given for withdrawals, is when a national emergency is activated, as provided for by the law.
Addressing criticisms about the lumping of NRF monies into the Consolidated Fund, and businessman Terrence Campbell’s assertions that the NRF Board is a rubber stamp, Jagdeo reiterated comparisons of the proposed NRF Law by the APNU+AFC government to the one put in place by the PPP/C.
“Somehow they are making it seem that the Board of Directors to manage the fund is less transparent than the minister having all the power,” he yesterday told a press conference he hosted at Freedom House, Georgetown.
“Outside of this annual withdrawal which is captured by a ceiling and a formula… the government can draw down for a national emergency- a major flood disaster or a tsunami… in that case, there is no ceiling. You have to give the projects and the specifics but that has never been triggered. That is the only case you have to detail the expenditure from the oil revenue to have the withdrawal done.”
To Opposition representative on the Natural Resource Fund (NRF) Board, Campbell’s call for justification for withdrawals from the Fund and to have a separate account for those monies, Jagdeo said it was nonsensical. “Put in an account at the Central Bank? That is nonsense. I am not going to deal with those issues now. “
“Clearly they want to get the Board of Directors, a few people appointed by the President, or the leader of the opposition nominee, to act outside the law,” he added.
Last week, Campbell declared the NRF Board a rubber stamp and said that his efforts for justification for withdrawals from the Fund have been stymied.
He also posited that the lack of transparency in the spending does not satisfy the provisions of the Natural Resource Fund Act and that Jagdeo wanted to “cop out” of government providing to the nation a breakdown of how it spends the funds.
“The Act calls for the funds to be used in a specific way. The government goes for blanket approval of X billions per year. It then withdraws in parts. The withdrawals do not specify how the funds will be used,” Campbell told Stabroek News yesterday when contacted.
“It is a copout for Jagdeo to point to the commingling of funds in the Consolidated Fund. If it wishes to satisfy the provisions of the Act, the government would specify how the funds are to be used and set up some mechanism, perhaps a separate account at Bank of Guyana, to allow the PAOC [Public Account-ability and Oversight Committee], Auditor General, et cetera, to monitor disbursements.”
His statements followed a letter to Stabroek News where he also said that the matter of the NRF, its procedures for withdrawal and the rate of depletion “demand urgent national attention.”
In his letter, he referred to an article in the online version of the December 6th Kaieteur News titled, ‘Showing how oil money being spent would be difficult’.
Campbell, a businessman, noted that the NRF Act was revised by the PPP/C government in December, 2021, and was praised for its transparency. He pointed out that VP Jagdeo has been quoted as saying the revised Act “is the most transparent model that will not only ensure public scrutiny but also parliamentary oversight on the spending of oil revenues” (https://guyanatimesgy.com/proposed-nrf-legislation-most-transparent-model-vp-jagdeo/).
“I was quite shocked to read that this same gentleman is now claiming, a mere three years later, that the ‘balkanization of revenues’ in the Consolidated Fund would make it difficult to show how NRF funds were being spent,” he wrote.
“The VP has a genetic predisposition to eating his cake and having it. As a former President he was ‘Champion’ of the Earth, today he is a ‘Champion’ of fossil fuels. As Opposition Leader, he was Champion of Renegotiation, today he is Champion of Contract Sanctity. Unfortunately for the VP, I sit as the Opposition representative on the Investment Committee of the NRF and I am not prepared to let him tout the transparency of the Act and simultaneously claim that balkanization makes tracing the funds difficult,” Campbell declared.
Jagdeo maintained that having the money put into the Consolidated Fund which is used for the country’s Budget, captures the spending and “every cent of this money is audited and goes through the appropriation process.”
He said that he believes that Campbell, the Opposition APNU+AFC and its members “under the guise of accountability that somehow they are the ones most concerned about this issue,” are using the matter for their own politicking.
“They lament that there is not enough money to manage in the investment committee. They believe that the US$60 million going to the people is wastage. So we must give him the money or the committee to manage but the people don’t have proper roads to drive on… proper healthcare. The foolishness of this position,” he contended.
Campbell had said that the analysis that developed nations took over two decades to start saving and that the people should feel the benefits of the fund is, “correct, but this does not mean you splurge all.”
Jagdeo retorted that Campbell’s letter cannot be taken seriously as he believes that he [Campbell] is political, given that he was nominated by the opposition and had during the lead up to the 2015 elections said that he would dedicate his efforts to getting the PPP/C out of office.
He argued that Campbell is “not independent” and that he along with others are pseudo-intellectuals.
The Vice-President asserted that he is unbothered by the criticisms he faces.
Other critics have said that the formula for withdrawals from the NRF effectively emasculates its board.