Government yesterday deferred a motion that sought to have the National Assembly take note of the impact of global food prices on the cost of living in Guyana after the PNCR-1G boycotted the sitting.
But the Alliance for Change (AFC) took umbrage at the deferral, saying that the Government was being accommodating to the PNCR-1G when members of the AFC were prepared to make their contribution to the debate. The PNCR-1G members took part in a street protest over the cost of living yesterday and were not in Parliament.
Minister of Agriculture Robert Persaud, in whose name the motion was put forward, called for the debate on the motion to be deferred until a date when the PNCR-1G was present.
The Minister had signalled his intention to defer the debate during a statement at yesterday’s sitting prior to the motion coming up. “We feel strongly that there must be a collective and national response to this situation and it is for this reason the Government had tabled a motion on the rising food prices which is on the Order Paper for debate today.
However in the interest of national participation, we will at the appropriate time be seeking the House’s leave to defer the motion for debate for a time when the Main Opposition is in the National Assembly,” the Minister said.
After the Minister concluded his statement, member of the AFC Khemraj Ramjattan raised an objection to the Minister’s use of the ‘Statements by Ministers’ facility to announce the intention to defer the debate.
“We will not be allowed to respond to what he has said,” said Ramjattan. “We are being excluded. We did not know about the Ministerial statement. Speaker of the National Assembly Ralph Ramkarran told Ramjattan that there was no rule in the Standing Orders that allowed for a response to a ‘Statement by a Minister’. The Speaker then told Ramjattan that he was going to give him five minutes to make a presentation on the motion, if he wished. Ramjattan declined.
The motion had also sought to have the National Assembly undertake to follow the implementation of the Governmental interventions and to be provided with the deliberations of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Food Prices on a quarterly basis. The motion’s resolve clause also urged that “the National Assembly recognises that the situation requires national action and sustained efforts and engagement with critical sectors and groups to confront this challenge locally and regionally.”
During the Minister’s earlier statement, he said: “Even though food prices are pushing up the cost of living, we must remember that they also provide our farmers with a unique opportunity to increase their income and transform the agriculture landscape.”
Giving an example, Persaud said that this is the first time that Guyana’s rice farmers have received such high prices for their crop. “The price for non-traditional agriculture crops is also increasing providing further opportunities for farmers to increase their income and for the country to increase export earnings, the Minister said. During yesterday’s brief sitting, another motion brought by Leader of the Opposition, Robert Corbin on the Lusignan and Bartica killings and one brought by PNCR-1G member Aubrey Norton on allegations of torture against members of the joint services were deferred to later dates.
Minister of Home Affairs Clement Rohee also withdrew the Hijacking and Piracy Bill 2008 which was scheduled for its first reading.
