The private sector earlier this month held separate meetings with APNU and the AFC to urge support for the anti-money laundering bill and proposed that the parliamentary select committee on the bill holds its hearings in public and it also forwarded a compromise for the procurement commission.
The Private Sector Commission (PSC) said in a release on Saturday that it met on 10th December, 2013, with A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) and on 18th December, 2013, with the Alliance for Change (AFC), to exchange views and share information with regard to the passing by Parliament of the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) Amendment Bill.
On Thursday, parliament agreed to send the bill to another select committee of Parliament for further examination. The committee’s work will begin next year.
At the meeting with APNU, the PSC reiterated its concerns previously expressed in its November 5th petition to Parliament that failure to enact legislation to prohibit money laundering and the financing of terrorism in accordance with the requirements of the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF) would do considerable damage to the “legitimate private sector” of the country and cause serious hardships for the ordinary citizens of Guyana. It added that non-compliance with the CFATF requirements could see the referral of Guyana to the umbrella Financial Action Task Force (FATF). The private sector petition was not read in parliament as the opposition had voted against it over dissatisfaction with some of its language.
The PSC said that APNU informed it that the coalition strongly supports the AML/CFT Amendment Bill, provided that it encompasses the institutional strengthening of the Bank of Guyana and the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) to attain the objectives set out in the legislation and to ensure enforcement under the law. APNU pointed out to the PSC that, even though the Bill presented to Parliament in its current form may satisfy the minimum standards of the CFATF, it did not match the conditions considered by APNU to be vital for the implementation of the legislation.
The PSC said it expressed its support for the position of APNU with regard to the strengthening of the legislation to cover the necessary institutional and enforcement requirements.
The PSC further urged APNU to support the referral of the Bill to the Parliamentary Special Select Committee and to make every possible effort to find consensus.
The PSC said it also proposed to APNU, that the meetings of the Special Select Committee be held in public and APNU stated that it would support such a proposal.
In its meeting with the AFC, the release said that the AFC informed the PSC that its support for the AML/CFT Amendment Bill being passed in Parliament is conditioned on the government agreeing to the appointment of the Public Procurement Commission (PPC) as is currently legislated for by Parliament without any further amendment to provide Cabinet with the right of a “no objection”. This has been a longstanding position of the AFC.
The PSC said it acknowledged the position of the AFC and pointed out that the PSC, has on “more than one occasion, urged the government in writing to appoint the Procurement Commission as is required by the Constitution.”
The PSC, however, proposed that the AFC consider reaching a consensus with government on the PPC along the following lines:
It said that the Procurement Act should be amended to give the Cabinet the right to a no objection for contracts proposed by the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board even after the Procurement Commission has been set up.
“An objection can only be made if Cabinet believes that the procedures laid out in the Procurement Act were not adhered to. This is in the existing Act already.
“Cabinet’s objection should be made to the Procurement Commission as an oversight and appellate body, who will then review the reasons for the objection and make a ruling.
“If the Procurement Commission disagrees with the grounds for objection and finds that the law was adhered to as per the Procurement Act, then permission will be granted to the National Tender Board to proceed with the awarding of the contract as recommended by them without referral back to the Cabinet.
“If the Procurement Commission agrees with the objection, then the matter is sent to the National Tender Board to remedy the shortcomings and sent back to the Cabinet for their no objection”, the PSC proposed , according to the press release.
Once the Act is amended by parliament and assented to by the President, the Procurement Commission should be installed with urgency, the PSC said, adding that adequate funding should be provided to ensure that the PPC can carry out its function effectively.
The PSC told the AFC that it is willing to represent this position to the government in an effort to craft a consensus.
The PSC called on the AFC in the meantime to join with APNU in the Special Select Committee to find consensus on the AML/CFT Legislation.
The AFC agreed with the proposal of the PSC that the Special Select Committee meetings should be held in public and confirmed that it would support such a proposal, the release stated.
