TWO pieces of revolutionary legislation, the Natural Resource Fund (Amendments) Bill 2021 and the historic Local Content Bill 2021 have received presidential assent, the final step in the legislative process which is required for a bill to become an Act, thereby incorporating the legislation into the country’s legal architecture.

President Dr. Irfaan Ali on Thursday evening gave his assent to the Natural Resource Fund (Amendments) Bill 2021, and on Friday afternoon signed the Local Content Bill 2021, operationalising the two historic statutes as the now Local Content Act 2021, the first of its kind for the country.

The signing of the Local Content Bill 2021 into an act was witnessed by several members of President Ali’s Cabinet, including Attorney-General and Minister of Legal Affairs Anil Nandlall, S.C; Senior Minister in the Office of the President with responsibility for Finance, Dr Ashni Singh; other government officials and members of the private sector.

“This Bill is a Bill that is alive, and it’s the start in what would be a dynamic journey, because, as you are aware, we are now at the infancy stage, and the development of the oil-and-gas sector will bring with it changes,” President Ali said at the signing of the Bills on Friday.

The President extended appreciation to all the stakeholders who were involved in the drafting of the legislation, noting that he was particularly pleased that many youths were involved in the drafting of the legislation.

“It is unfortunate that we don’t get to celebrate these accomplishments of such important magnitude that the people of this country are involved in,” Dr. Ali said.

President Ali was adamant that he will be steering the ship to “take the country forward,” and will dismantle barriers and build a cohesive vehicle which will aid in moving forward and transforming the country.

“There are many initiatives that we are going to pursue next year that we are going to announce and put to the private sector to mobilise local financing and local involvement; projects of tremendous magnitude, so that we can achieve the full potential of our private sector and the people of this country,” he said.

“In those projects, we would like to see all segments of the population involved, but we would like to see leadership from the private sector,” he added.

The landmark Local Content Bill was passed on Wednesday, after a year of consultations in the National Assembly, with the government accepting 10 of the 14 amendments proposed by the main parliamentary opposition.

OPPORTUNITY TO WIN
“This Local Content Bill will give us the opportunity for Guyanese to win; to set the framework for Guyanese to win, and that is what we’re interested in. When the people of Guyana win, the world wins,” President Ali said at the signing.

The now Local Content Act 2021 will pave the way to ensure Guyanese gain equal opportunities and access in the oil and gas industry, and to ensure maximum benefits for Guyanese businesses.

Natural Resources Minister Vickram Bharrat, during his presentation to the National Assembly on the Bill, reminded that the Local Content Legislation is not set in stone, since the government has repeated that as more and more Guyanese are trained, the laws would be amended to guarantee increased employment and business opportunities for the people of Guyana.

The Natural Resource Fund (Amendments) Act 2021 was also passed in the National Assembly by the People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) on Wednesday evening. It sought to correct the deficiencies of the NRF Act promulgated by the A Partnership For National Unity + Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) administration.

Not only did the Bill correct those deficiencies, but it also added extra layers of security to ensure proper spending of money from the Fund, and added mechanisms of oversight to ensure transparency and accountability.

During a press conference on Thursday, the Finance Minister reminded that the PPP/C condemned the APNU+AFC’s NRF Act, and shared grave concerns not only because of how the Act was passed, but also in relation to the contents of the Act, and had committed to amending the Act once elected to office.

The concerns identified by the PPP/C included the excessive powers enjoyed by the Finance Minister; that there was no governing body for the fund; the complicated formula that governed transfers from the fund and the provisions which allow withdrawals from the fund without parliamentary approval.

DRAMATICALLY REDUCED
The PPP/C Bill dramatically reduced the powers of the minister; added a board of directors; made it compulsory for Parliament to approve spending; added a provision that every receipt must be published in the Official Gazette, and be reported to the National Assembly, among other measures to add extra layers of security.

Dr. Singh related that the objections raised by the APNU+AFC are similar to those which they had raised in relation to the Amaila Falls Hydroproject, as they want, for political reasons, to deny the people of Guyana benefits flowing from the operationalisation of the Natural Resources Fund.

“It’s most unfortunate that it is yet another example of the APNU+AFC [being] willing to take all manner of actions to actually frustrate and undermine the national good, and the advancement of positive national objectives; it’s perhaps typical APNU+AFC behaviour,” he said.

President Ali also assented the Fiscal Management and Accountability (Amendment) Act 2021 on Friday at his Shiv Chanderpaul Drive, Bourda, Georgetown office.