– Gov’t ministers tell gathering at Berbice Town Hall meeting

GUYANA’S blacklisting status will have implications for everyone, irrespective of their political affiliations, several Government ministers told a large gathering last evening as they called on the residents of New Amsterdam,in Region 6, to reach out to their politicians and ensure the passage of the Anti-Money Laundering and the Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AMLCFT) (Amendment) Bill in the National Assembly by February 28.

The meeting conducted at the Berbice High School, and which saw addresses by Minister of Finance Dr. Ashni Singh, Minister in the Ministry, Juan Edghill and Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs Anil Nandlall, was among three planned by Government targeting Opposition strongholds, given their stance on the AMLCFT Bill. On February 19 a meeting was conducted with residents of Linden, whilst another was held today (February 21) with residents in Bartica, Region 7.
In tackling the claim by an Alliance For Change (AFC) member that the matter does not concern the ordinary Guyanese, but only the rich, Minister Singh said nothing could be further from the truth, because “they are attempting to mislead the people of Guyana into believing that their current position on the matter is not a harmful position against the people of Guyana. I am saying to you today, that if the bill proposed by Government to Parliament in response to the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFTAF) recommendations is not passed in Parliament, the implications will be grave for each and every Guyanese citizen,” Minister Singh told the Berbicians.

Dire implications
The minister, clarifying the dozens of channels, through which blacklisting will affect Guyana, emphasised that the country risks becoming isolated by the international community if it is identified as a jurisdiction that has not taken steps to fight money laundering. “No investor that raises money on the international capital market, the stock exchange or banks overseas would do business with a jurisdiction that is viewed as not having taken steps to fight money laundering, they cannot afford to do business with such a country,” he said.
The minister explained that, “no bank will lend money to an investor; no stock market will generate funds for any investor that is coming to put that money in a jurisdiction that is seen as soft on money laundering,” and therefore, the result  will be no new  investors for Guyana. It will also mean the pulling out of those already in Guyana.
“There is no boundary, there is no line that insulates anyone of us that says we would be protected from the adverse consequences of this blacklisting and the inevitable consequence will be that Guyana will once again return to where we were prior to 1992…” Minister Singh said.
“We must never forget no matter how they dress themselves up, what new name they assume, the tiger does not change its stripes and Mr. (Carl) Greenidge was the Minister of Finance at the time who presided over the criminalising of Guyanese for choosing to eat what they wanted to. It is Mr. Greenidge that made flour an illegal commodity as cocaine and the destruction and decimation of the Guyanese economy and they want to repeat it again…the chief architect of that destruction of the Guyanese economy is at work again… and he is attempting to repeat the destruction that he wrought on the people of Guyana. We must stand up against it,” he said.
For 10 months, APNU stalled on the implementation of the AMLCT bill in accordance with the CFATF guidelines. It was only on February 10, they proposed to move forward amendments to the principal act and not the bill itself. The APNU is now proposing that police and customs officers be given the power to stop and search persons, on the basis of suspicion that they are in possession of the proceeds of money laundering, and if such persons are found with $2 million worth of currency or more, it can be seized and the persons locked up.
APNU is also proposing to change the whole Government structure of the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), removing the power of the appointment of the director of FIU from the minister and placing it in a committee of the National Assembly. They further proposed the establishment of an authority comprising 10 persons nominated by the National Assembly after consulting with stakeholders.

“They have said that although they agree with the clause of that bill, they will not support the clause of that bill unless they get what they want, including cash seizure. That is blackmail! That is highway robbery! That is putting a gun to your head and say give me your money or else I would pull the trigger,” Minister Singh pointed out to the town hall meeting.

“The consequences, if we do not get this bill passed will not discriminate in its impact, it will not only affect and devastate the lives of people who voted for the PPP, but it will damage and it will adversely affect the lives and the business of all the citizens of this country,” Minister Nandlall said.
He said, he, Ministers Edghill and Singh attended the consultation because “it is what we believe in because we are patriots and we are serving our country and we are serving the people of our country and this is bad for the people of our country,” he said.

“The AFC boasts in Georgetown that they have broken the back of the PPP in Berbice, they have taken the votes of Berbicians, we chose New Amsterdam because traditionally it is a stronghold of APNU, we have come in their own backyard to speak to their own supporters because this is not about politics…the devastating impacts will not discriminate and only affect PPP supporters,” Minister Nandlall said.

He urged that the residents utilise every mechanism to get through to their politicians that they must pass the bill as the entire country will feel the effects of non-compliance.
“We brought this town hall meeting to you because your voices must be heard on this matter,” Minister Edghill said. He said that the way the residents’ voices can be heard is for them to urge the Opposition politicians to support the bill.  “You cannot keep quiet on this matter comrades, too late too late cannot be the cry,” he urged.
At the Linden meeting on Wednesday, residents there urged the passage of the AMLCFT bill, and thanked the government for taking the awareness session to their community.