A vigorous debate is ongoing regarding the operationalisation of the Natural Resource Fund (NRF). In his last Stabroek News column, Mr Christopher Ram cites legal reasons why the NRF Act is not in operation. He also raises the possibility that the government may not want to operationalise the existing Act since it was passed in a lame-duck session of Parliament. Furthermore, he argues that there is no legal framework for placing the incoming royalties and profit share in the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
In my opinion the existing NRF Act is a good starting point and as a matter of good will, President Ali should start the Fund’s operation on that basis, in spite of the fact that the Act was introduced by APNU+AFC. The present administration could make modifications, but there is little that they can do to improve on the existing legal framework. Any future modification would most likely take the NRF closer to a Kazakhstan-type model, an outcome that has at least a 50% chance it will not turn out well for Guyana in the long term.
