Politicians must consider ‘interests of people, business community’

CARIBBEAN businesses are clinging to a thread of hope for a breakthrough in the current political impasse in Guyana over the passage of the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) Bill.

President of the Caribbean Association of Industry and Commerce (CAIC), Ramesh Dookhoo expressed this view during a recent interview in the Boardroom of the Private Sector Commission, Waterloo Street.
The CAIC President speaking with this publication stated that Caribbean countries are “extremely upset” over the current situation. He said further that the Central Bank of Trinidad and Tobago had written to businesses in the twin-island republic cautioning against business transactions with Guyana.
Situated in Trinidad and Tobago, the CAIC is an umbrella organisation of Private Sector representative bodies aimed at creating links between Caribbean business interests and governmental bodies.
While Guyanese businesses cling to a “thread of hope” due to political “squabbling” on the important Bill, Dookhoo said that businesses are unconcerned with the internal matters of a country.
“Nobody out there listens to our internal problems. They don’t want to hear that; they want to hear that we are moving forward as a country progressively and [that] we don’t face a delisting possibility.”

CONSIDERABLE DEFICIENCES
In November 2011, the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF) brought to the attention of its members that certain jurisdictions, including Guyana, had considerable deficiencies in their AML/CFT regime.
With a view towards encouraging an immediate solution, Guyana and the CFATF developed an Action Plan with identified target dates to address those very deficiencies in Guyana’s commitment to fighting against money laundering and the financing of terrorism.
The Government and the Political Opposition in the National Assembly have since remained in gridlock over compliance and ensuring that an effective AML/CFT regime in Guyana can withstand regional and international scrutiny.

BRINKMANSHIP
To this end, Dookhoo stressed the need for politicians to halt using some important bits of national development as “political weapons”. “Brinkmanship should not be encouraged on certain issues in any Caribbean country.” And according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, ‘Brinkmanship is: “The art or practice of pushing a dangerous situation or confrontation to the limit of safety, especially to force a desired outcome.”
The CAIC President said that there had been a noticeable decline in investment. “We are seeing a drain on our capital reserves as a country and generally we are not seeing positive things.”
And while the business community remains optimistic, this is only due to the hopes at the prospect of delisting, Dookhoo concluded, while mounting a final call for “cooperation of the political sides.”
A similar call was recently made by the Caribbean Association of Banks (CAB) urging: “The passage of the AML bill is not only about Guyana, but also about the international financial sector as a whole in order to protect all financial systems, within the region, from ongoing money laundering and terrorist financing risks. We are only as strong as our weakest link.”

(By Derwayne Wills)