AS PART of government’s effort to ensure the passage of the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) Bill, several more ‘Town Hall’ type public meetings will be held to engage stakeholders around Guyana.

Attorney-General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall, told the Guyana Chronicle yesterday that the meetings are intended to be a continuation of the government consultative efforts in respect of the amendments which are proposed by A Partnership for National Unity (APNU”.
He said, “We believe that they will affect the life and welfare of the people of this country in a very significant way in terms of their ability to carry around cash and jewellry and therefore they ought to be consulted and fully apprised.”
Nandlall pointed out that the people of Guyana are accustomed to transacting their business and to have in their possession cash and jewelry in a free manner.
The AG said, “There is now an attempt to deprive them of that freedom. We believe it is our duty as a Government to ensure that we inform the people about this denial of their freedom, as well as who is responsible for this.
“We also intend to continue to inform the citizens of our country of the importance of having this Bill passed un-amended as quickly as possible, so as to insulate Guyana and its citizens from the devastating sanctions and repercussions, which will follow if the Bill is not passed and to inform them who are obstructing the Bill from being passed and the basis, as well as reason, for such obstruction,” Minister Nandlall said.

Two meetings are billed for today, one at the Lusignan Community Centre, in Region 4, starting at 17:00hrs and another at Teacher Veeren’s residence at 18:00hrs.
On Friday, Essequibo residents have an opportunity to have their voices heard at a 10:00hrs meeting scheduled for the Anna Regina Town Council auditorium in Region 2.
Region 3 residents will also be able to make their contributions the next day as well, at a meeting scheduled for 17:00hrs, at the Greenwich Park Primary School.
The meetings are intended to inform and educate residents in various communities about the AML/CFT Bill, which has been not been passed in the National Assembly due to delays by the political Opposition.
Already town hall meetings were held in, Linden, Berbice and Bartica with residents of these communities voicing their outrage at the proposals by the APNU.
On February 28 last, Guyana missed a deadline to submit a report to the Caribbean Financial Action Task force (CFATF) showing that it has been able to correct several deficiencies. This now means that Guyana is in a position where it has not presented to CFATF anything different from what was deliberated on in November, where they said unless these changes are made to the legislative structure, then they will recommend that Guyana be subjected to a Financial Action Task Force/International Cooperation Group Review.
The bill has been in limbo for about 11 months with no support from the ANPU, which recently came with two proposals, not to the actual bill, but to the Principal Act. These amendments are currently in their drafting stages.
Various other stakeholders across Guyana, including the Private Sector Commission, the National Competitiveness Council and religious bodies have been calling for the passage of the bill as Guyana now faces a greater risk of being blacklisted internationally.