THE non-passage of the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Terrorism of Finance Bill (AML/CFT) Bill made its way into Tuesday night’s continuation of the 2014 Budget Debates in the National Assembly.

And Labour Minister, Dr. Nanda Gopaul, made it clear that political grandstanding will not work, as he called for the passage of the critically important piece of legislation.

“If you want to see goodwill, show goodwill,” he said, assuring that the Government is committed to working with the Opposition to ensure that the interest of the Guyanese people take precedence.
The minister said, “We can no longer be divisive…we need political solution, some kind of compromise.”
However, Gopaul made it clear that a compromise is not a compromise if the route taken is that of coercive machinations.
He said, “We have to negotiate with an open mind and act in the interest of people…we need to get to a point where every position is seen from different points of view…instead what we have is an impasse.”
The Labour Minister called for the Opposition to work with the Government.
“Our country can no longer sail in an area where we fight,” Gopaul said.

AMENDING AMENDMENTS
The Parliamentary Special Select Committee, which is reviewing the AML/CFT Bill is currently waiting on Chief Parliamentary Counsel, Cecil Dhurjon, to complete a new draft that includes amendments to the initial amendments proposed by A Partnership for Unity (APNU).
The APNU’s three amendments address a change to the entire governing apparatus of the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU); removal of the Attorney General wherever that name appears and replacing it with the FIU; and vesting a police officer or customs officer with a power to seize currency from any person, anywhere in Guyana, if those officers have reason to believe that the currency is the proceeds of crime or will be used to finance crime.
In addition to their amendments, the APNU is also calling for the Head of State to assent to several Bills he returned to the National Assembly with an explanation for his decision, citing the unconstitutionality of the legislations.
On the other hand, the Alliance For Change (AFC), which supports the APNU’s position, is calling for the establishment of the Public Procurement Commission (PPC) – which Government has already expressed its support for, providing that Cabinet retains its no-objection role in the procurement process. The latter has been rejected by the AFC.
Guyana missed the February 28 deadline when the country was required to submit a report to CFATF, which was expected to include a copy of the enacted Bill, which will, after analysis, be correlated to the deficiencies identified by the body at its November 2013 Plenary meeting, before a report is made in May 2014. Guyana, unfortunately, was only able to report on the non-legislative recommendations by CFATF.
If the May Plenary is dissatisfied with Guyana’s progress, CFATF’s November 2013 statement already provides the decision for the country’s referral to the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), which meets again in June 2014.

(By Vanessa Narine)