Gov’t, Opposition agree on adjustment of estimates

GOVERNMENT and the Opposition yesterday reached an agreement that will see Shadow Finance Minister Carl Greenidge withdrawing a motion he submitted to National Assembly on Tuesday, to have Finance Minister Dr. Ashni Singh withdraw the 2014 Budget to make adjustments to the format.After a meeting that delayed the commencement of the Parliamentary sitting for over two hours, Speaker of the National Assembly Raphael Trotman announced that this course of action was settled on.
He acknowledged the Government’s concerns over the motion, as penned by Attorney-General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall, on behalf of the Administration, and lauded the collaboration of the parties in coming to a resolution on the matter.
According to him, this is testimony to what can be accomplished by working together in the National Assembly, which has been plagued by many clashes between Government and the combined Opposition since the start of the 10th Parliament.
Greenidge, in a statement to the House yesterday, explained that his motion essentially called for a format of allocations that would see Commissions, which are to be established in line with constitutional provisions, accorded funding in a manner that did not affect or indicate an effect on their independence.
The entities he cited were the Ethnic Relations Commission, the Human Rights Commission, the Women and Gender Equality Commission, the Indigenous Peoples Commission, the Auditor General Office and the Judiciary – all bodies that are charged with protecting the rights of the Guyanese people.
The Shadow Finance Minister stressed the need for all these bodies to be treated in the “constitutionally dictated” manner.
Dr. Singh also made a statement to the House and committed to moving a motion in the Parliamentary Committee of Supply, where the 2014 allocations are being reviewed in detail, at the appropriate time to address Greenidge’s concern.
“I trust that the moving of the motion at the proper time will ensure the withdrawal of motion to avoid any delays in the consideration of the 2014 Estimates,” Dr. Singh said.
The considerations in the Committee of Supply continue today.

(By Vanessa Narine )