Georgetown : Government’s effort to ensure the passage of the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AMLCFT) Amendment Bill, will be hosting of a major consultation, to engage stakeholders, on Thursday, March 13, at the Guyana International Conference Centre, Liliendaal.
President Donald Ramotar will be addressing the gathering at the event slated to begin at 10:00hrs and which is open to all stakeholders and interested persons.
The meeting is intended to inform and educate stakeholders about the AMLCFT Bill, which has been not been passed in the National Assembly due to delays by the political opposition.
It follows several recent meetings held in communities such as Lusignan and Mahaica, in Region Four, Anna Regina, Region Two, and Greenwich Park, Region Three. At all these communities the common thread was for the bill to be passed or elections to be called to resolve the parliamentary situation where the Opposition holds a one -seat majority.
Bartica, Berbice and Linden residents also responded positively to meetings held within their communities in the first round of meetings in February.
The AMLCFT Amendment Bill No. 22, 2013 is before the Parliamentary Special Select Committee. The APNU has proposed last minute amendments which are posing problematic for the parliamentary draftsman who had asked for more time to complete them. One of the amendments is to give police and customs officers the power to seize $10M or more in cash from persons. They are also tying the bill’s passage to the assent of bills that were not assented to by the President. The Alliance for Change had always said it wanted the establishment of the Public Procurement Commission, but recently said it also wanted what the APNU was demanding.
Various stakeholders such as the Private Sector Commission which represents the local business sector and the Heads of Missions of the United States, Canada and Britain, along with thousands of residents of various communities across Guyana, have also called for the support of the critical piece of legislation and its passage.
Guyana stands to be blacklisted internationally if the bill is not passed in a timely manner.
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