Dear Editor,
I found from experience that in writing to the press, you make your point, you allow for others to respond and then you allow the reading public to conclude. Thus I am trying my best to maximize the usage of editorial space and not engage in chains of correspondence on a very basic issue. In that regard, this is my final correspondence in response to Mr. Winston Jordan for now.
But it would be remiss of me, to let a particularly glaring example of another attempt to insert compendiums of confusion into this very simple issue concerning the Natural Resource Fund Act 2019, (Act 12 of 2019) on the part of none other than Mr. Jordan. I refer to his response dated October 11, 2019, to my letter on the appointments and terminations of the personnel who will be tasked with managing the Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF).
Anyone with any iota of common sense reading my letter published on October 10, 2019, in the Stabroek News would find that my primary concern with the SWF remains the governance strategy, in particular who appoints and who terminates the operators of the fund. This is the SWF of all Guyanese especially the unborn ones; it belongs to the future, not the current ruling cabal.
If Mr. Jordan took the time to understand my contentions rather than attempting to ascribe intent on my part, he might have more professionally addressed them and actually grasped the merit of my views. This is not an occasion to get personal, as Mr. Jordan seems to want to do, this is an occasion to competently and sensibly reflect on the issues and consider our real experiences over the last 12 months to make sure Guyana gets the best.
Nowhere in my correspondence, have I rejected any of the features of the law other than this exclusive “transport” over who appoints and who terminates? Although I have other concerns with the law, I am carefully considering those from a Guyanese-first angle and will address them at a more opportune time. Slavishly subscribing to what happens in other countries that have stronger governance infrastructures is tactically inadequate. While it is good to gather best practices from other countries, pragmatically contemplating whether it can work in Guyana must always be a consideration. At a more appropriate time, I shall raise those other concerns. So clearly Mr. Jordan seems to be seeing “jumbies”.
Telling me that Abu Dhabi, Singapore or Australia allow their Presidents or Ministers of Finance to appoint and terminate operators of their SWF does not allay my genuine concern. Our policymakers since December 21, 2018, have proven they are not followers of the law and if they are capable of doing their own thing with the Constitution, my fear is a valid one, since we may very well have Presidents and Ministers of Finance in the future who may want to follow this precedent. Thus we can have a situation where the decision-making mechanism can be populated by friends and family of future Presidents and Ministers. Thus the risk is real! This current construct in the law on appointments and terminations of personnel within this important vehicle of the State allows for its mutation into a political slush fund. Plain and simple and this single point is enough to cause a complete repeal of the law as being called for by Mr. Bharrat Jagdeo.
Why not think out of the box and allow for all these powers to appoint and terminate to be transferred to a more reliable and responsible body – the Appointments Committees of the National Assembly? After all we have enough evidence that this committee of the National Assembly did a fantastic job in collaborating on its appointment of the Public Procurement Commission which continues to serve all of Guyana without fear of any politician.
As to the other points, if Mr. Jordan took the time to understand my concern rather than rushing to defend his corner he would realize we might be saying the same thing on some other points. I will confine myself to my original concern – the mechanism under the law as to who appoints and terminates the personnel on the SWF in my view is weak, can be easily subjected to political interference and can render it into a political slush fund.
In summary, since my issue is this simple, please permit me with the kind courtesy of your page to offer this final comment on this matter. Mr. Jordan either gets it or don’t and that should not be my responsibility.
Yours faithfully,
Sasenarine Singh
