The National Assembly on Thursday passed a bill for the Official Gazette to be made available online, making it more widely accessible.
The Official Gazette Bill No. 9 of 2012, which was piloted through the House by Attorney General Anil Nandlall, was passed with an amendment and with the support of the parliamentary opposition, APNU and AFC.
According to the Government Information Agency (GINA), Nandlall said that the bill seeks to establish a “statutory footing” for the Official Gazette and make it “more accessible” to Guyanese and others by placing it online on a government website.
Nandlall, GINA reported, noted the number of important notices and functions that the law requires to be published in the Official Gazette, but pointed out that it does not reach the ordinary citizen in a timely manner, or at all. “In putting this Official Gazette online, not only are we taking our development up a notch on the technological ladder but we are resorting to a course that we are almost certain will improve the situation of non-accessibility,” he was quoted as saying.
Nandlall told the National Assembly that, among other things, the Interpretation and General Clauses Act provides for every act passed by parliament to be published in the Official Gazette and to come into operation on the date of that publication, unless the law otherwise stipulates. The Act also provides that all subsidiary legislation, proclamations, rules, regulations, orders and bylaws, shall be published in the Official Gazette and shall likewise come into operation on the date of publication. In this context, he said making the information available to the entire world is of utmost importance, as scores of Guyanese residing overseas are becoming more interested in owning land and, in the affairs of the country.
Also, GINA said, Nandlall pointed out that although the Official Gazette has been in use in the country’s legal system for centuries, it has never been the subject of legislation and he could find no reason for the omission. “The Official Gazette’s presence and use of the legal system in our country dates back to some 400 years… my research indicates that it would have been brought by the Dutch sometime during the 17th century… it has remained with us since… over those centuries its importance has not declined… it has increased,” he said.
Meanwhile, GINA noted that both APNU and AFC supported the legislation.
ANPU’s MP Basil Williams, while sounding his party’s support, said that security of the online gazette would be very important. “…We wouldn’t want one to hack into the website and do any damage and dislocate information,” he said. AFC MP Khemraj Ramjattan, meanwhile, inquired whether the Gazette will be available in hard-copy, in order to accommodate agencies and individuals who do not yet have access to the internet, to which Nandlall answered in the affirmative.
Meanwhile, GINA reported that the Deeds Registry (Amendment) Bill No. 11 of 2012 has been sent to a Special Select Committee for further consultations, and will be returned to the House on or before December 1, 2012. This Bill, it said, seeks to amend the Deeds Registry Act to elevate an agreement of sale of immovable property to the status of a bond, a lease or other encumbrance, with the purpose of ‘clothing’ a purchaser of land held by transport as some form of protection until the transport is conveyed.
