THE Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML-CFT) Bill will be read for the third time when Guyana’s Parliament convenes tomorrow, with the hope that the legislation will receive the support of A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) and the Alliance For Change (AFC).

The legislation, which was previously tendered on April 22 and May 7 this year, did not receive approval from the Opposition which, together, hold a one-seat majority in the National Assembly.
People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Member of Parliament (MP) Faizal Jaffarally, told the Guyana Chronicle that the proposal is vital for future development in Guyana and is calling on the APNU and AFC to collaborate with the Government in passing the law, which was proposed by the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF) to ensure transparency in all international financial transactions.
“This Bill did not come out of the back pocket of anyone from the PPP. It came from the CFATF. Hence, the Opposition needs to stop playing vexation politics and support this Bill for a national cause.
“They need to think about those persons who depend on remittances to survive,” he emphasised.
Jaffarally called on all Guyanese to stand behind the bill and urged the APNU and AFC to rethink their position and cast aside partisan politics, so as to prevent Guyana from being blacklisted.
Failure to pass the legislation before November 18 could see the CFATF blacklisting Guyana as a non-compliant country.
The Opposition parties were invited to be part of a Select Committee that was established to deal with their concerns, following their refusal to support the Bill; but the work of the group was stalled due to the non-participation of the former.
“The APNU and AFC, deliberately, frustrated the work of the Committee, forcing Ms. Gail Teixeira to abort the roles of the Committee and make recommendations in Parliament.
“The ordinary people will be the first to feel the impact of Guyana being blacklisted and the Opposition needs to understand that, if we are blacklisted, it can take as much as seven years for us to become regularised,” Jaffarally lamented.
The PPP/C Member of Parliament was very vocal in pointing out that politics should not play any role in the degradation of any country, adding:”From a Government perspective, it will be difficult for us to procure materials that are needed to build Guyana in the absence of this Bill. We would not be able to do banking transactions with overseas-based institutions as it relates to payment for imported commodities.”