Dear Editor,
Jay Mobeen asserts that ‘babbling Glen Lall and others who agitated against the NRF … were disingenuous. For weeks they peddled misinformation to a nation, woefully ignorant of the bill. This couldn’t have been more glaring than the massive sign held up outside the Assembly by opposition protestors. This sign demanded the inclusion of the Santiago Principles in the Bill. Had the opposition read it, they would have seen and understood that it (the Santiago Principles) is indeed included.’ Mobeen, J. (2021, December 31). Just as how the PPP shows signs of continuing in their old ways, so too does the opposition. Stabroek News. https://www.stabroeknews.com/2021/12/31/opinion/letters/just-as-how-the-ppp-shows-signs-of-continuing-in-their-old-ways-so-too-does-the-opposition/
Jay Mobeen suggests that the 24 Santiago Principles are addressed in this Bill. For the benefit of the nation, I ask Jay Mobeen to indicate which of the 24 Santiago Principles is matched by which numbered Article in the Natural Resource Fund Act 2021 and exactly how these guiding principles have been interpreted under a national economic policy debated and approved by our National Assembly.
There is no such policy outlined in the PPP election manifesto 2020, nor did the PPP attempt to guide a public debate on the Bill during the two weeks after the publication of the Bill in the Official Gazette.
Yours truly,
Janette Bulkan
