Dear Editor,
I read with admiration a letter penned by Mr. Terrence Campbell about the malfunctioning of the Natural Resource Fund (NRF) that appeared in your newspaper on Saturday December 7, 2024. The letter was also clear as to how the work of the Investment Committee has been hamstrung by the improper operation of the Fund.
Editor, that letter did three things for me. First, it reminded me that the NRF belongs to the people of Guyana and the resources entering that Fund are at risk. Second, I admire the willingness of Mr. Campbell to defend the interests of the people of this country in the manner expected of those serving the public.
Too many of our institutions are being destroyed by this government as it also tears down the guardrails of integrity and democracy and leave us exposed to the vicissitudes of its greed. While Mr. Campbell might not want to be thought of as a hero, I cannot help viewing him that way for taking his oath of office as seriously as he is in this environment in which corruption abounds.
Third, the letter reminded me that we asked the government to manage the NRF for us and to be guided by the rules of the Fund. The government went through the motion of setting up the institutions for the investment and management of the Fund. As laudable as those actions were, I have come to realize that the institutions are occupied by spineless enablers of the government’s contempt for Guyanese. Instead of creating an oversight body, the government created a facade of accountability.
It is for the foregoing reasons that I must thank Mr. Campbell for his letter and for letting us understand how vulnerable our NRF is in the hands of this government.
Yours truly,
Mervyn Williams,
Former Member of Parliament.