KINDLY permit me through this letter to exorcise the evil and deliberate distortion of the economic effects of the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism Bill (AML/CFT Bill) on our country as it relates to the common citizen. 

The leader of the Alliance For Change(AFC) and some of its executive members have been on television in Berbice trying their utmost to let Berbicians believe that their non-support of that Bill in Parliament will not affect the small man. This is a blatant disregard for the truth and the people of Berbice! Stop lying to the people; you have lied enough and the truth is known!
Firstly, being blacklisted will increase the processing time, documentation and transaction costs of receiving money from abroad and the sending of money as well. Some people will sometimes send money abroad to assist loved ones occasionally. They will now be treated as money launderers! So it will cost more to send and receive money abroad, thus reducing the amount of money friends and relatives would normally receive. Will not friends and relatives abroad find the processing time and the extra documentation prohibitive? This may restrict remittances to only dire-need situations. Who normally would receive money from abroad if not the “small man.” Please Ramjattan, we belong to the country area but we are not dumb! It’s time you respect our intelligence!
Secondly, businesses will be affected and their costs of doing business will increase. Oil and goods prices will skyrocket. More bureaucracy and red tape will once again make the lives of businessmen miserable. This means more bribery and corruption. Who will pay for this Ramjattan? The “small man” of course! It is always about the “small man” suffering and the rich getting richer when the “small man” suffers. The costs of goods and services will go up, eating up whatever wages and salaries increase the “small man” receives. Kaieteur News on November 22 reported that: “The Caribbean Financial Action Task Force’s(CFATF)decision yesterday will affect payment for oil, family remittances, payments for goods and a host of other transactions that could virtually cripple trade.” Everyone will surely suffer to satisfy the egos of a few who are consumed by greed for power and vengeance! But history will condemn the AFC and its leadership for subjecting an entire nation to travel backwards in time to a dark era.
Thirdly, foreign investors will be scared away from doing business with a “blacklisted country.” This will hinder the economic development of our country. Foreign investment creates jobs for the “small man” as well and the multiplier effect will improve the standard of living of many more Guyanese in an indirect manner.
Lastly, the AML/CFT Act is far too important to be used as a bargaining tool for the Public Procurement Commission as is being postulated by the AFC. This Public Procurement Commission is of far less importance than the AML/CFT Act. The effect of not passing this Act will definitely result in there being no need for such a Commission; will there be anything to “procure”? The Parliamentary Select Committee, which comprised the Opposition, met for six months and on 17 occasions and yet could not have fully evaluated the proposed legislation. This is beyond reality and this is a well-orchestrated move to destabilise the government.
I have said it in previous letters and I am saying it again, and this time it is echoed by Cabinet Secretary Dr Roger Luncheon who put it quite succinctly, “They are prepared to destroy Guyana in their efforts to remove the PPP from office.”
It is time to go back to the polls! The AFC will rue this day!

HASEEF YUSUF
‘Former’AFC Member/AFC Councillor