– Bill promises relief from cumbersome planning process

THE Special Select Parliamentary Committee concluded works on the Planning and Development Single Window System Bill on Wednesday, now paving the way for the legislation to be passed in the National Assembly.

The Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall, made this announcement during his weekly programme, ‘Issues in the News’, on Tuesday.

The bill aims to ease the burdensome planning process by introducing a single-window electronic processing system. This system will enhance business efficiency, particularly in the housing and construction industries, which have been experiencing significant growth.

The proposed legislation includes provisions for the establishment of a Planning Oversight Committee, which will centralise functions related to land-use preparation and development. It also aims to define the committee’s responsibilities and associated matters.

“As you are aware now, to build you have to get planning permission and that planning permission will only be granted once a number of other permissions are granted. That process over the years [has] become a very cumbersome one. It is long, tiring; it is frustrating, and one experiences bottlenecks along the way. The single window system allows you to put in all your allocations for the various permissions at one single window,” Nandlall said.

He explained that the bill paves the way for a machinery to be established which takes an applicant’s various applications and send them to the different agencies to make the system hassle free.

Nandlall explained that the machinery “will then release the applications at the various agencies to ensure that it is not sitting on anyone’s desk for any undue period and will ensure that, at each stage of the process, the file is constantly pushed to avoid delay and to avoid the backlog currently [that] plagues the system.”

Additionally, the AG said that this will save millions of dollars and will remove the horrible administrative and bureaucratic red tapes which plague the system.

Once enacted, several agencies will become part of the single window. This includes Central Board of Health, the Ministry of Public Works, River and Defence Board, Guyana Lands and Survey Commission, the Environmental Protection Agency, Guyana Fire Service, Guyana Civil Aviation Authority, National Trust of Guyana, Guyana Office for Investment, Land and registry Deeds registry, Guyana Water Incorporated, all Neighbourhood Democratic Councils and the local authorities inclusive of the municipalities among other agencies.

“Depending upon the nature of the project, you have to get permission from these agencies. Currently you have to go to each one, to get the individual approval.

“That is going to change in a fundamental way and you the citizen will be relieved of running from one agency to the other. All you will do is to put your documents in a single window and someone at that same window office will tell you check us back in four months,” AG said.

Against this backdrop, Nandlall said that at the select committee, the government and the opposition enjoyed “great rapport” and agreement on almost all the clauses for the bill.

“It’s a beautiful concept. If we can get this to work, it will save every one of us a lot of time, a lot of energy and a lot of money. So, this bill is one that will revolutionise the way we do business and obtain the various type of permits and permissions. We will be leading the way with this mechanism,” he said.

He added that the Single Window System is the brainchild of President Irfaan Ali, who must be recognised for his “visionary leadership.”

The implementation of the single-window system forms part of the government’s efforts to create a business-friendly environment and improve the ease of doing business through an electronic portal that allows investors to submit planning and building permits and check the status of the permits from anywhere in the world.