-ministerial powers turn off opposition
A bill which will see the establishment of a Guyana Livestock Development Authority was last evening passed by the National Assembly despite concerns by the opposition parties that the bill permits the unnecessary intervention of the Agriculture Minister.
The Guyana Livestock Development Authority Bill 2009 was passed last evening with 32 government members indicating their support for the bill, while 17 PNCR-1G members voted against it and 3 AFC members abstained from voting after the bill was put to vote , by the presiding Speaker Clarissa Riehl.
Riehl was deputizing for Speaker Ralph Ramkarran who is currently out of the jurisdiction on official Parliamentary business.
According to the Explanatory Memorandum of the bill, the piece of legislation “seeks to provide for promoting greater efficiency in the livestock and livestock production industry and to provide for the establishment of the Guyana Livestock development Authority”. This body is to being established to provide effective administration and regulation of the industry.
Leading the debate on the bill was Agriculture Minister Robert Persaud who said that the legislation was intended to help develop a critical subsector within the agriculture sector which has vast potential. He said the objective of the bill was to ensure that the industry’s full potential is realized. He also said that it served to diversify agriculture and the economy as well.
According to Persaud, the bill emerged from consultations with professionals from within the agriculture, health and business sectors which expressed the need for a semi autonomous body that would serve several purposes.
He said it would “integrate its fragmented units for better coordination and management of other activities”, “provide a more efficient service to the business community”, “provide a better working environment for staff”, “offer more competitive salaries to its work force” and “employ highly qualified personnel”.
This body will address all areas of animal health and production in a manner that cannot be accommodated under the traditional public service, the Minister explained. Persaud said that the bill will see animal health benefiting from a totally revamped Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory that will serve the diagnostic needs of both the government regulatory system and the private sector. “This laboratory is envisaged to become the best equipped and functional of its kind in the Caribbean and is already being looked at to become a reference facility for the Caribbean region”, he said.
However, PNCR-1G MP Jennifer Wade, while acknowledging that the intent of the bill was “commendable”, slammed it as being “counterproductive” since it contained several clauses which allows for the unnecessary intervention of the Agriculture Minister.
Wade said that the main opposition party supported the idea of having a Development Authority for livestock with the intention of moving the industry forward. She, however, said that “the proposed role of the Minister negates the concept of a semi-autonomous body and the expansion of inclusive governance of stakeholders”. “The authoritarian hand of the Minister is evident throughout this bill that seeks to administer the affairs of an industry that is private sector driven, private sector supportive and overwhelmingly private sector by nature”, she said.
While acknowledging that it was heartened that the administration saw it fit to concentrate its efforts to manage and promote the interest of stakeholders involved in livestock, she objected to the clause of the bill which dealt with the establishment of the Board of Directors for this Authority.
Section 5 (1) of the bill states that “the Minister shall constitute the Board comprising fifteen Directors of whom no more than eight Directors shall represent the Government and seven Directors shall be chosen by the Minister from nominations submitted by the associations or interest groups including poultry producers, pig producers, cattle farmers, agro processors, beekeepers and traders and exporters of livestock or livestock products.” Wade also noted that the Minister also has the power to suspend any resolution or order of the Board. She expressed concern that the political control proposed in the bill is “far greater than the role of the private sector and civil society combined.”
AFC MP Sheila Holder, during her presentation, noted that the bill promised greater efficiency in the management of the sector but failed to indicate how this would be achieved.
She questioned whether this bill, when implemented, would ensure that there were greater quantities of milk available on the local market.
She also queried if the role of National Agricultural Research Institute (NARI) would be redefined and what would become of the staff of the Ministry of Agriculture. Holder also echoed the sentiments of Wade concerning the intervention powers that the Minister was allowed.
Holder said that the bill failed to address the fundamental issue which the legislation claimed to be an attempt to address.
Opposition Leader Robert Corbin suggested that there was some ulterior motive behind the passing of the legislation and suggested it was an attempt to satisfy some conditionality as part of an existing international agreement of which the country is a part.
Corbin further argued that the bill appeared to duplicate the functions of the Ministry of Agriculture as it relates to this sector and said that it also encroaches on the private sector.
He also argued that Sections 17 and 18 of the bill which allows the Authority to issue licences or revoke licences of persons trading in the industry could be used to hinder legitimate entrepreneurs because of political motives.
In wrapping up the bill, Persaud staunchly refuted allegations that the bill gave too much power to the minister.
He said that in other territories where this type of legislation was in place the Minister served a similar function.
He also stressed that the intention of the bill was to improve the livestock sector even as this sector was performing well at present
Addressing the concerns relating to labour, Persaud disclosed that the Guyana Public Service Union was consulted as the bill was being drafted. He also denied that the bill was encroaching on the rights of the private sector.
Government Members Irfaan Ali, the Minister of Housing and Water and Labour Minister Manzoor Nadir also spoke on the bill.
