Dear Editor,
I am constrained to respond to a statement in Minister Manickchand’s lengthy letter to the editor entitled “I was clear that our sexual offences laws needed overhauling urgently to effectively address these types of circumstances” which was carried in your Saturday 17th October 2009 edition.
The statement I refer to reads “The reason the Bill [Sexual Offences Bill # 30 of 2009] has not yet been addressed is because Parliamentarians were more interested in vacationing for two long months instead of addressing the legislation laid in Select Committees.”
This statement from a sitting member of the National Assembly is at best, an indication of a level of ignorance of the Standing Orders of the National Assembly of Guyana, which I find “terrifying”, or at worst, a silly attempt to score cheap political points.
The facts are as follows:
1. The Sexual Offences Bill 2009 – Bill No. 30/2009 was read for the first time in the National Assembly by the Honourable Minister Manickchand on the 9th day of July 2009 and on that day the Bill was committed to a Special Select Committee.
2. As is required, the Committee of Selection subsequently met and selected the members of the National Assembly to sit on this Special Committee.
3. The next stage is for the Speaker of the National Assembly to fix a date for the first meeting of the Committee. The purpose for this first meeting being to elect a chairperson. This first meeting was held on Tuesday the 4th day of August 2009 and at that meeting Minister Manickchand was elected as the chairperson for the Select Committee.
4. On Monday the 10th day of August 2009, that is three working days after the first meeting of the Special Select Committee, the National Assembly, in keeping with Standing Order # 9 went into its annual two month recess.
Standing Order # 9 does provide for sittings during the two month recess for special reasons. I have however been advised that the Honourable Minister formally advanced no such reasons requesting that her Committee sit during the two month recess.
Having not done this, the Honourable Minister in a most irresponsible manner now seeks to cast aspersions on the other nine members of this select committee.
In her letter the Honourable Minister also states that “This new Sex Offences Bill” [the correct name is the Sexual Offences Bill] is revolutionary to Guyana”. This is indeed true. However, it is worth knowing that when our National Assembly passes this Bill we will finally be catching up with several Caricom countries that have already enacted comparable Sexual Offences Acts.
I trust that the Honourable Minister displays the level of maturity that is required by the holder of such an important office and apologises to all members of the Select Committee.
Yours faithfully,
Deborah Backer M.P.