British parliamentarian on Guyana’s sovereign wealth fund board

Last Updated on Wednesday, 20 April 2022, 16:54 by Denis Chabrol

Long-serving United Kingdom parliamentarian, David Lammy, has been selected by Guyana’s President Irfaan Ali to sit on the Natural Resource Fund (NRF) Board which will be chaired by former military chief, Retired Major General Joseph Singh, the Office of the President announced on Wednesday.

Lammy, who is currently Shadow Foreign Secretary, is the son of a Guyanese mother who migrated to the United Kingdom as part of the 1948-1971 Windrush Generation.

Also sitting on the NRF Board to help manage Guyana’s oil revenues is Guyana’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations,  Carolyn Rodrigues who is also a former Guyana Foreign Minister.

Other members are private sector representative, well-known city business executive Ramesh Dookhoo and former People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) executive member, former bauxite industry executive Dunstan Barrow.

Nominees by the opposition A Partnership for National Unity and its coalition partner, Alliance For Change, for the parliamentary representative had been all  rejected by the governing People’s Progressive Party Civic in favour of Mr. Barrow.

The NRF Board Chairman served the Guyana Defence Force from 1965 until his retirement as Chief-of-Staff in 2000. He then went on to serve as the Chief Executive Officer of the Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company, Executive Director of Conservation International, Chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission , and Presidential Advisor.