AFTER  a full day of rigorous, sometimes emotive, debate in the National Assembly which followed a year of consultations on the structure of the Bill, Guyana’s historic Local Content Bill was passed by a majority of the House, on Wednesday afternoon.

The Bill, tabled by Natural Resources Minister Vickram Bharrat a few weeks ago, outlines the obligations of persons in oil and gas operations and other related activities to ensure Guyanese nationals and companies benefit through procurement of goods and services. Before its passage today, the Bill was referred to Committee for clause-by-clause consideration, where a number of changes were made.

Minister Bharrat, in his opening remarks, bemoaned the posture of the parliamentary opposition, A Partnership for National Unity+Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC), which, despite public criticism of the Bill, did not attend a scheduled meeting, this morning, with government parliamentarians to discuss their suggested amendments. Amendments, however, were submitted by the Opposition in writing, yesterday, according to Attorney General and Legal Affairs Minister, Anil Nandlall.

The Attorney General, in his contribution, plugged the Bill as a step in the right direction as it forms part of a network of legislation that will ensure Guyanese benefit from the multi-billion dollar Oil & Gas sector.

More on this story in the December 30 edition of the Guyana Chronicle.