DURING last Monday’s meeting between President Donald Ramotar and Opposition Leader David Granger, an appreciation developed for an intervention, one that is timely, and would end with the enactment of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) compliant money laundering legislation. 

That was reported yesterday by Head of the Presidential Secretariat (HPS) and Cabinet Secretary, Dr. Roger Luncheon who, having personally attended the meeting, made the disclosure at his usual post-Cabinet media briefing at Office of the President, Shiv Chanderpaul Drive, in Georgetown.
“The Leader of the Opposition proposed in their 48 hours of activities to have CFATF (Caribbean Financial Action Task Force) legislation; they would contribute to an engagement with Government representatives on a particular range of issues whose resolutions, to their satisfaction, would contribute to the enactment of CFATF compliant legislation.
“In essence, you scratch my back and I scratch yours. Were that engagement and what was undertaken to be successful, I might want to hazard the guess that the Parliamentary Special Select Committee’s contribution would be superfluous, meaningless and unnecessary, provided an outcome satisfactory to the President, on behalf of the Government and the Leader of the Opposition, if an agreement were to be arrived at,” Luncheon said.
Referring to the CFATF blacklisting as another nail in the coffin, he said the result of Guyana’s failure to enact compliant anti-money laundering legislation was more than a matter of prophecy.

BEING IMPLEMENTED
In fact, Luncheon said some aspects of the outcome were already being implemented and impacting on Guyana’s foreign financial transactions and, consequently,on its economy.
“The journey of the AG to Miami for the plenary with his empty hands has to be seen in its true light. Every stakeholder imaginable, including the Government, private sector, civil society, donors, Caricom, CFATF, UNASUR, FATF, they have all tried and they must be commended for the efforts they made to have Guyana enacting CFATF, FATF compliant anti-money laundering legislation. However, they have had to accept the bitter gall of failure of defeat.”
Luncheon said the Opposition continues to deny responsibility for this “sad state of affairs” and wants the public to believe that the anti-money laundering legislation is just another aspect of local politics.
“It is unfortunate that the Opposition attends in Parliament to the plight of the Berbice Bridge crossers, the maritime commuters and declines, refuses to see the bigger picture of FATF compliant legislation,” he lamented.
Written By Telesha Ramnarine