The Parliamentary Committee of Appointments has approved the nomination of Dunstan Barrow as a Director to sit on the Natural Resource Fund Board which will have oversight of Guyana oil revenues.
Fmr PNC MP Dunstan Barrow
Barrow, a former People’s National Congress (PNC) Member of Parliament, was nominated by the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Government.
However, his nomination did not attract the approval of the PNC-led A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) Opposition, whose members stormed out of the Committee meeting on Wednesday.
“After two hours, they walked out [of the meeting]. They didn’t like that we didn’t agree with their nominees, and they didn’t agree with our nominee… So, after two hours of discussions, the Committee, by majority, approved Dunstan Barrow as the nominee for the Natural Resource Fund Board,” a Government member told Guyana Times during a brief telephone interview.
This publication understands that initially there were 10 nominees – three from the Government and seven from the Opposition.
The Government’s nominees were Barrow, Hamley Case and Clement Sealey; while among the Opposition nominees were Chartered Accountant Christopher Ram and former Head of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Vincent Adams.
Reports are that the Coalition members
were upset that Government would use its one-seat majority to eventually have its nominee selected.
Meanwhile, in addition to Barrow’s nomination for the NRF Board, the Committee of Appointments on Wednesday also went ahead and approved the Government’s nomination of Clement Sealey to sit on the Public Accountability and Oversight Committee under the NRF Act.
With the nominees approved by the Committee of Appointments, the next step now is for a motion and draft report to be presented to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), which would then have to make a decision whether to send the nominations to the floor of the National Assembly.
But according to the Government source, the PAC, which is chaired by Opposition MP Jermaine Figueira, has been lagging on following the procedures to have the Appointment Committee’s recommendations meet the House.
In fact, this publication was also told that given that the five nominees from both the Government and Opposition sides were shortlisted and approved two meetings ago, the PAC is yet to submit that to the Clerk of the National Assembly.
“I don’t know why he is pussyfooting on bringing the motion to the House,” the government official stated.
The three-to-five-member NRF Board is expected to be made up of mostly civil society representatives, with one nominee from the Private Sector and one from the Parliament. The other members are to be appointed by the President.
President Dr Irfaan Ali has already made it clear that he will select individuals with the utmost integrity to sit on the Board.
“We have some very good names that is being considered, and I’m just waiting now for Parliament to send their recommendations, and then with immediacy you will see the board,” President Ali told reporters last month.
Section 5 (2) of the NRF Act provides that the Directors shall be selected from among persons who have wide experience and ability in legal, financial, business or administrative matters.
However, Section 5 (10) of the said Act states that a person shall not be eligible for appointment as a Director if that person, inter alia, is a member of the National Assembly.
The NRF Act was passed in the National Assembly in December, amid chaos caused by the A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) Opposition, who did their utmost to disrupt the proceedings after the Bill was brought up for debate.
The Bill, which has since been assented to by President Ali, outlines that the Directors will hold the post for not more than two years, with eligibility for reappointment; and all appointments, as well as changes in appointments, are to be gazetted and published on the Ministry’s website and in two daily newspapers.
The new Bill states that the Board of Directors will be responsible for the overall management of the Fund, reviewing and approving the policies of the Fund, monitoring the performance of the Fund, ensuring compliance with the approved policies of the Fund, and ensuring that the Fund is managed in compliance with the Act and all other applicable laws.
Moreover, the Board is expected to report to the subject Minister, who is allowed to give policy directives as deemed necessary to their functions. In addition, the legislation caters for the appointment of two committees, one of which is the Public Accountability and Oversight Committee, which will provide non-Government oversight of the Fund and comprise various civil society representatives who will have to present a report to the National Assembly annually.
