Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) President Clinton Urling is urging all parliamentary parties to engage in constructive dialogue ahead of the budget presentation, while denying a report that he predicted that the opposition would oppose a vast part of it.
In a press release on Tuesday, the GCCI said it is dismayed at the assertion in the Guyana Times article, ‘Urling fears opposition’s veto of security sector budget,’ published in the Tuesday edition of the newspaper and which said that Urling foresees the opposition “opposing a vast part of the 2013 national Budget, despite its involvement in pre-budget discussions.
The GCCI categorically stated that at no time during the telephone interview between Urling and the reporter was such an assertion made or even implied. The group noted that Urling’s position has always been in concert with the group’s and “calls on all political parties represented in the National Assembly to engage in constructive dialogue and engagement aimed at converging positions ahead of budgetary presentations.”
Additionally, the GCCI said it does not and cannot predict the outcome of any debate occurring in the National Assembly and the imminent budgetary debates are no exception. It noted that Urling had said that the parliamentary opposition voting down of the Firearm Amendment Bill was an unwelcome development as the amendments go toward the improvement of the country’s security. “However, no nexus between that position and the upcoming budgetary allocations on security was made,” the GCCI added.
