PPP/C MP Anil Nandlall has written to Attorney-General (AG) Basil Williams SC urging that he appoint a Governing Board for the Deeds and Commercial registries, while saying that its absence they are encountering “innumerable administrative problems” that are affecting their functioning.
Nandlall, a former AG, told Stabroek News on Saturday that he is not only concerned about the absence of a Governing Board, which Williams is required to appoint under the Deeds and Commercial Registries Authority but also a proposed amendment to the law that he claims would give the minister control of the two entities.
In his letter, which was dispatched to Williams’s Chambers last Friday, Nandlall said that the 2013 Act caters for the establishment of a Governing Board which will ensure the proper and efficient performance of the functions of the Deeds and Commercial Registries Authority. The Act also caters for the establishment of such an Authority.
According to Section 5(2) of the Act, the Governing Board should consist of a Chairman, appointed by the Minister, the Registrar of Deeds, the Registrar of the Commercial Registry and a nominee each from the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Housing and Water, the Guyana Bar Association, the Guyana Association of the Legal Professionals and the Private Sector.
Nandlall said in his letter that the functions of the Governing Board are explicitly laid down in Section 7 of the Act. It includes: the hiring, discipline and dismissal of staff; determining their conditions of service and remuneration, including, pensions, gratuity, allowances and the general day to day operations of the Authority.
Nandlall said that apart from Section 5(2) (a), which obliges the AG to appoint a Chairman of the Governing Board, Section 6(4) mandates him to appoint the other Members of the Board, excepting, those who are ex-officio. The life of the last Board, he said came to an end in May 2015 but to date, a new Board has not been appointed though he was informed that a new Chairman was appointed in, 2016. “This was obviously done after the life of the last Governing Board would have expired,” Nandlall wrote.
“There are innumerable administrative problems which are being encountered on a daily basis by the Authority, which no doubt, affect its ability to discharge its day to day functions. One involving the Assistant Registrar of Deeds was widely covered in the news and is now the subject of litigation,” he pointed out.
Nandlall argued that a Governing Board would have resolved the problems currently being experienced without it attracting media attention. “I note that you have referred the matter to the Public Service Ministry. Please be informed that employees of this Authority are not public servants and the Public Service Ministry holds no responsibility, for, or jurisdiction over them,” he said, while noting that one of the main reasons for creating the Authority was to remove these departments from central government and, more particularly, from ministerial influence and to make them autonomous corporate agencies. The ultimate objective was to increase the efficiency and speed with which these departments function, he said.
“It is excruciatingly clear that you are in breach of multiple statutory duties which devolve upon you under the said Act. Your neglect and omissions also open themselves to accusations of misfeasance in public office,” Nandlall added before calling on Williams to rectify the breaches and to immediately appoint a Governing Board.
Nandlall told this newspaper that the employees of the Authority are not public servants and therefore are not bound by the public service rules, as a result of which they can be paid higher salaries and work longer hours. All of this, he said, was intended to enable the registries to discharge their functions more efficiently. “All of this is now being undermined because of the absence of the Governing Board and the minister now interferes with the day to day runnings of the registries,” he charged.
He also voiced concern over a proposed amendment to the Act that he said would seek to empower the minister to act in the place of a Governing Board when no such Governing Board has been appointed. “Therefore, you have a minister who breaches and violates his statutory obligations to appoint the Governing Board and now will amend the law to say that when there is no such Board he must perform these functions. This is absolutely ridiculous,” Nandlall said.
