THE Government of Guyana is likely to face a series of litigation for its inability to meet obligations under several contracts already signed with local, regional and international contractors and companies. This is according to Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Mr. Anil Nandlall, who referred to proposed cuts in the budgetary allocations for several Government Ministries, among them the Ministries of Housing and Water, Culture Youth and Sport and Tourism.
The proposals were made by Opposition Member of Parliament, Mr. Khemraj Ramjattan, by way of motion in the National Assembly on Tuesday.
Nandlall, in an invited comment yesterday, told the Guyana Chronicle that, should the reductions be approved, the Government will be in a difficult position, legally.
He said, already, the named ministries have committed themselves to several contracts, by way of signing.
Nandlall said those works represent developmental ventures, some of which are provided for in the 2012 National Budget, which has been the subject of debate over the past two weeks.
Signed
He mentioned that several of the contracts were signed with international financial institutions and, in those cases, they work with time stipulations and a lapse in time on the part of Guyana could mean this country losing out on opportunities.
Nandlall added that the mechanisms are already in place for the Guyana Government to draw down on the assistance from several of these agencies but, with the recent move by the Alliance For Change (AFC), it is just left to see what happens.
He said the Guyana Government could very well be the subject of lawsuits by contractors who had previously received the commitment of the Government to undertake several projects, especially in the water and housing sectors.
The minister pointed to the drilling of wells and building of roads in several new housing schemes.
In addition, the jobs of many people are in jeopardy with the proposed changes the AFC hopes to see take place, Nandlall pointed out.
He said the developmental works by the named ministries will have to be significantly altered or halted because it is the human resources that are needed to ensure that the processes move ahead.