Roopnarine appeals for compromise, accommodation
– puts forward recommendations
THE Opposition, A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) Member of Parliament (MP), Dr. Rupert Roopnarine made some recommendations to be included in the 2012 budget, during the debate on it Thursday. Insisting that they are for the advancement of the Guyanese people, he said the new configuration of the House “heralds a new political epoch and an opportunity for nurturing of a new political culture” and assured that “we, on this side, will seize the opportunities and rise to the challenges, however formidable.”
“I am hopeful that all is not lost and that, when we come to consider the estimates in the Committee of Supply, we will all be guided by the thing that matters most and should matter most, the well-being of our young people, our young men and women, of our hard pressed working people, our public sector workers, our sugar and bauxite workers, our farmers, our teachers, our nurses, our office workers and the most vulnerable among us,” the APNU Vice-Chairman said.
On institutional reforms and governance, he alluded to deficiencies in this regard and said it was a misfortune that the work of the first Select Committee on constitutional reform was overtaken by the 1997 elections.

Roopnarine urged: “We must ready ourselves, in this 10th Parliament, to identify and remedy these defects. We, in APNU, are of the view that this House should move, urgently, to establish a new, constitutional review commission to democratise, widen and deepen the work of the Standing Committee.”
He also touched on the local government system, with this appeal: “Let no time be lost in the enactment of the legislation to complete the reform of the system, so that we can ensure that the citizens of Guyana in the villages and the towns, once more, enjoy the right to elect their local representatives.”
According to him, there is no mention of another crucial institution crying out for reform, the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), noting that the matter, including its Secretariat, is on the agenda of the inter-parliamentary party dialogue.

ENABLING ENVIRONMENT
On the governance model, he pleaded that all sides of the House commit to the search for a more perfect one “which will point the way forward to the quality of governance that will provide the most enabling environment for our social and economic advancement.”
About agriculture, the MP maintained that the reality of the sugar industry is harsh and, as such, recommended that the House considers the establishment of a Special Select Committee dedicated to a careful examination of the industry.
Alluding to the environment, Roopnarine said the budget does not present a proper picture of the needs for the effective management of it and natural resources and no provisions were made for the management of waste generated by Neighbourhood Democratic Councils (NDCs) and municipalities.
He said the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) must be upgraded to reflect the realities of the proposed development in the natural resources sector and it should be reconstituted, based on identification of the skills appropriate to its effective functioning.
He claimed that there is absence of effective oversight in the mining sector and, on the Amaila Falls hydropower project, he asked if any assessment has been done of the generation of greenhouse gases from the reservoir when it begins to operate.
Addressing the mining sector, Roopnarine said APNU emphasises the need to provide incentives and suggested that the minister responsible accelerate the resolution of the serious conflicts arising in the gold industry.
“It is for us, in this Honourable House, Mr. Speaker, to decide whether we move forward, together in conditions of mutual respect and unite in our love of country or whether we continue to make our people the victims of our own failure to bring an end to political hostilities. In this new dispensation, there must be no place for the white flag of surrender.
“As we go forward, let the spirit of compromise prevail, let each side of this Honourable House treat, respectfully, with the convictions and aspirations of the other side, especially, when we most disagree. Let us find accommodation where they can be found,” he concluded.