Georgetown : The Alliance for Change (AFC) in a press statement noted the Private Sector Commission (PSC) and the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce & Industry's (GCCI) position on the amendments to the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (Amendment) Bill.
The AFC is as deeply concerned as the PSC, the GCCI and other organisations about the potential blacklisting of Guyana. However, this concern is overshadowed by the Government's repeated opposition to the establishment of constitutionally mandated organs like the Public Procurement Commission (PPC) coupled with His Excellency's promised and delivered obstruction to the legislative agenda of the majority of its citizens.
The lack of enthusiasm to repeated calls for good governance, greater transparency and a commitment to greater overview of the use of taxpayers' money by the Executive, long ago brought this nation to crisis status, and to permit the continued degradation of and crisis in governance of this country is simply unacceptable and irresponsible.
The AFC takes this opportunity to repeat its disappointment at the urgency which some sectors of the country have recently found to express their concern about the detrimental effects on the nation state, and notes the absence of similar intensity and concern about the establishment of mandatory constitutional bodies and assumption of judicial office by his Excellency when he pronounced on the legality of the "opposition bills".
The party says the ruling PPP failed to establish the Public Procurement Commission in the 9th Parliament and seems unwilling to establish it in the current 10th parliament. This is unacceptable and the AFC demands that the PPP submit the names of their nominees to the Commission, as an act of good faith to energize any alternative AFC position on this Money Laundering Bill.
The AFC is of the view that one of the best method of stamping out money laundering is to turn off the taps on the "illicit proceeds" which come from may sources.
One of these sources is the illicit funds associated with contracts awarded to friends at amounts several times the real market value. If the Public Procurement Commission is established, it will go a far way in weeding out these illegally earned funds thus contributing to less money being laundered.
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