The PPP says cuts made to the budgetary allocations for the Government Information Agency (GINA), the National Communica-tions Network (NCN) and the Guyana Power and Light (GPL) will lead to job loss as well as increased blackouts and/or increased electricity tariffs.
Under the government’s proposed budget, NCN and GINA were slated to receive $81,337,000 and $135,858,000 respectively under Office of the President (OP) expenditures while GPL was to benefit from $10.2 billion as part of the Office of the Prime Minister’s Electrification Programme.
However, during Thursday’s consideration of the estimates, the combined opposition voted down funds intended for these entities 33-32, effectively reducing allocations for NCN and GINA to $1, and cutting amount for GPL by more than half to $5 billion.
Cuts to GINA and NCN mean that “250 workers have been put on the bread line,” said PPP/C MP and Minister of Legal Affairs Anil Nandlall during a press conference held by the party yesterday. Nandlall said that by taking this action the opposition is effectively refusing the Guyanese public the right to remain informed about what their government is doing for them.
Both NCN and GINA were also sbject to cuts during the 2012 consideration of the budgetary estimates. However these cuts did not affect the agencies since Finance Minister Ashni Singh was able to access the Contingencies fund to replenish the amounts.
Nandlall said that owing to the provisional ruling of Chief Justice Ian Chang on last year’s cuts as well as provisions in the Financial Management and Accountability Act, Singh, determining that the funds allocated to the bodies were insufficient, accessed the Contingencies fund and restored what was cut.
Nandlall however suggested that the same route may not be possible this year. He said the decision made by Speaker of the House Raphael Trotman on Monday to allow the cuts now governs the matter.
Nandlall said the Speaker’s decision, based on his imperpretation of the law, to allow the opposition’s cuts is problematic since it infringes on the court’s jurisdiction.
He explained that as the constitutional interpreter of the law, the court’s ruling that the cuts were unconstitutional was binding and should have been complied with. He said Trotman’s decision to pass down his own ruling on this year’s cuts not only goes against the decision of the court, but infringes on the court’s constitutional responsibility as the exclusive interpreter of the constitution. This, he said, opens the doors for even the executive to interpret the provisions.
In the light of this development, Nandlall said, it was crucial for Justice Chang to make a final decision on the matter as soon as possible.
One of Trotman’s justifications for allowing the cuts was the fact that Justice Chang’s ruling was provisional and not final. The Attorney General said he has written to Justice Chang quite recently on the matter since further delays will only lead to further confusion.
Nandlall also said that the use of Articles 76 (4) and 71 (5) of Parliament’s Standing Orders by Alliance for Change Leader Khemraj Ramjattan to justify cuts made to the budget was also improper. He said Guyana’s Constitution is the highest law of the land while the Parliamentary Standing Orders were simply retained after independence. He said that in any case where any law contradicts the Constitution then that law should defer to the Constitution. Trotman’s decision, Nandlall said, to entertain the proposed amendments amounted to esteeming the Standing Orders above the Constitution which is improper.
According to Nandlall, he had raised the issue with Trotman in the Standing Order Committee, but no action has yet been taken to address the concerns raised.
