Says public needs relief, not rigid rules to restrict gov’t measures

ATTORNEY GENERAL and Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall, SC, has dismissed the opposition’s proposal to enshrine the government’s cash grant programme in legislation as “nonsensical.”
During his weekly television show, Issues in the News, aired on Tuesday last, Nandlall criticised the opposition’s stance, describing it as baseless and accusing them of trying to claim ownership of the cash grant initiative.
“The government’s decision to issue a cash grant to every Guyanese 18 years and over who is in our registration system has been met with criticisms first, and when it was realized that the criticisms were unfounded, the criticisms were obviously baseless, and (the) criticisms were rejected by the general populace.

“The opposition, rather than accept that it’s a good decision, has found all manner of methods to detract from it. They have found all manner of methods to criticise the decision, while at the same time, some of them are fighting to take ownership of the decision,” Nandlall said.

He questioned the logic behind the opposition’s call for legislative backing, a move championed by the People’s National Congress Reform-led A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), Alliance For Change (AFC) and the Working People’s Alliance (WPA).

“So as usual, they are a confused bunch. They come up with another sophisticated call they want it now to be made into legislation. I don’t understand, what are you making into legislation?
“But you know, calling for legislation is another sophisticated concept… apparently it makes them sound intellectual and it makes them sound profound. That’s the only reason I could advance,” the Attorney General argued.
The demand for legislation, according to Nandlall, reflects a misunderstanding of how policies should operate in a dynamic economic environment- a “sophisticated” concept from the opposition without practical reasons.
Nandlall highlighted the importance of flexibility, pointing out that several longstanding cash assistance initiatives have been managed without legislation.

“We have been distributing cash grants for school children…since 2010 or 2011, we didn’t put that in legislation. We have been distributing uniform vouchers and subsidies for uniforms—we never put that in legislation. We have been giving subsidies to pensioners in respect of their electricity and water bills for more than a decade now. We didn’t put that in legislation,” the AG highlighted.
Nandlall explained the impracticality of legislating such grants due to the volatility of the world market.

“Why you want to put this in legislation? You want to make this the law of the country? What will happen if next year we don’t get the money to pay?
“You don’t make law for the purpose of making law, putting something in the law that should not be the subject of laws. Laws are to govern and regulate society. So, you put it into law. The next year, for whatever reason, oil prices drop…and you are unable to pay. So, what happens—you violate your own law?”

As such, Nandlall highlighted the importance of flexibility within government policy, especially for cash grants, which depend heavily on current economic conditions.
“When you put it into law, there is rigidity. There is no flexibility because the law will now dictate your policy. You can’t have it as a flexible policy, as we have with the cash grant that we have increased significantly every single year. That is not law,” he said.

Pointing to the opposition’s support for “direct cash transfer” legislation, he described it as an attempt to appear profound without addressing real issues.
The government’s recent $100,000 grant for every citizen 18 years and older was introduced to mitigate the impact of the rising cost of living due to global economic pressures.

This approach was revised from an initial proposal of $200,000 per household after public feedback, which highlighted concerns over fairness, particularly for young adults who are not household heads.
“The people will receive the cash grant. That is what is important, and that is what the people want. They don’t want it in the form of legislation,” he added.

Nandlall reaffirmed that government programmes need to remain responsive and adjustable to changing conditions.