PRESIDENT, Dr Irfaan Ali, on Monday, announced the appointment of the Board of Directors of Guyana’s Natural Resource Fund (NRF). The board will be chaired by Major General (ret’d), Joe Singh.

Aside from Major General (ret’d) Singh, the other members of the board are United Kingdom parliamentarian, David Lammy; Guyana’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett; former People’s National Congress (PNC) parliamentarian, Dunstan Barrow and Private Sector Executive, Ramesh Dookhoo. The directors will soon take their Oath of Office.

According to a release from the Office of the President, Section 3 (1) of the Natural Resources Fund Act 2021, Act No. 19 of 2021, assented to by President, Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali on December 30, 2021, established the NRF to manage the natural resource wealth of Guyana.

The fund is tasked with managing this wealth for the present and future benefit of Guyanese in an effective and efficient manner and in accordance with the principles of good governance, transparency, accountability and international best practices, including the Santiago Principles.

Section 5 (1) of the said Act provides for a Board of Directors of the Fund comprising not less than three and not more than five members, who shall be appointed by the President, inclusive of a chairperson.

In accordance with Section 5 (2), these directors are selected from persons who have wide experience in legal, financial, business or administrative matters, one of whom shall be nominated by the National Assembly and one of whom shall be a representative of the private sector, the release said.

“In pursuance thereof, at the 46th Sitting of the National Assembly of the 12th Parliament of Guyana, held on the 13th day of April 2022, a motion was unanimously passed approving Mr Dunstan Barrow, nominated by the Standing Committee on Appointments of the National Assembly, as a Director of the Board of Directors, of the Fund. After consulting with the various organisations representing the private sector, Ramesh Dookhoo was selected as a representative of the private sector,” the release concluded.