Turn up the pressure on your parliamentarians- Edghill

MINISTER within the Ministry of Finance, Juan Edghill on Thursday made the government’s position clear with respect to the combined parliamentary Opposition parties’ positions on the Anti- Money Laundering and Countering Financing Terrorism Bill (AML/CFT).

The government’s position is that it is willing to support any group, person, residents or other organisations who wish to publicly protest the Opposition’s position on the bill. The minister was at the time addressing residents from Regions 5 (Mahaica/Berbice) and 6 (East Berbice/Corentyne) at the Berbice High School in New Amsterdam as part of government’s series of meetings to enlighten citizens about the Bill.
Already there were consultations in Linden, New Amsterdam and on Friday the team went to Bartica. The Government has been holding these engagements in the areas which have long been considered the strongholds of the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) and the Alliance For Change (AFC) and these meetings have been receiving large turnouts.
On Thursday there were just over 1,000 persons who attended the meeting and gave their positions and asked questions with respect to the Bill and the proposals for amendments being put forward by the Opposition. With the exception of one gentleman, all other persons who stood to add to the discussion were very critical of the Opposition’s position with the empowering of the police to do certain things under the act.
In his address, Edghill told the residents and regional officials that there are various bodies which have been tasked with the responsibility of ensuring that member states of the United Nations in their legislation have the necessary clauses to ensure that their financing systems are not used to facilitate terrorism and money laundering. He reminded the audience that the move was taken after the bombing of the World Trade Centre in 2000.
In spelling out the actual reasons for the AML/CFT Bill, Edghill told the residents that the new bill being proposed in the National Assembly fixes loop holes in the previous legislation of 2009 and once passed in the National Assembly, terrorists and money launderers will not be able to hide their money into programmes and other outlets to make them appear legal.
Edghill said that at the level of the Government of Guyana, all the systems were put in place to ensure that Guyana was in compliance with the deadline for the amendments, but since the process started the Opposition has been giving the government the devil’s own job to support the Bill.
Edghill spoke of the lengthy period the bill spent at the select committee level of the National Assembly. He admitted that while at the select committee it was agreed that there were several things which were missing from the Act of 2009 which allowed money launderers and those suspected to be part of terrorism to be able to cheat and beat the system in what is commonly known as “ stricter the government wiser the population”.
Edghill explained that after the Bill went through with the process at the level of the Select Committee it was reviewed and recommendations were made.
What was important to note, Edghill told the Berbicians, is that everything that was in the Bill of 2009 which was passed by the Government and Opposition are again in the Bill of 2013 but with some adjustments and yet the Oposition continues to kick up a storm.
Edghill said that because of the “pussy footing” of the Oposition at the level of the Select Committee and their attitude of complaining about everything under the sun, the Government in trying to meet the international deadline for the passage of the Bill even agreed to meet on Saturdays and Sundays, something that the 0pposition also agreed to but yet again, made very little of the engagements.
On Thursday, the minister told the residents to put pressure on their politicians namely the AFC and other parliamentary representatives who were elected to serve them. He encouraged the residents to petition Moses Nagamootoo, Dr. Ramaya, and Khemraj Ramjattan by dropping mails in their mail boxes, protesting in front of their offices, homes and everywhere they go.
The message Edghill said, should be “support the bill, let the bill be passed by the new deadline date”
Also present at the Town Hall meeting were Ministers of Legal Affairs and Finance, Anil Nandlall and Ashni Singh

(By Leroy Smith)