Guyanese will soon benefit from electronic single window system

Guyanese will soon benefit from the electronic portal for the Single Window System, as a contract will be signed soon to facilitate this mechanism.

This is a component of the government’s plan to implement a single window electronic system to improve the ease of conducting business.

Housing and Water Minister, Collin Croal, during remarks at a housing drive at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre, said the PPP/C government constantly examines the system to improve efficiency to make the lives of Guyanese better.

The Single Window Bill, which was presented to the National Assembly this month, caters for the establishment of a single-window electronic processing system to increase business efficiency and predictability, as the housing and construction industries are expanding rapidly.

Minister Croal underlined that the bill will have a significant impact on the lives of Guyanese.

The system will also indicate which agency needs to provide a response or feedback.

Additionally, the minister stated, “So, those of you who are embarking on a particular type of construction, you do not have subjectivity of having to depend on any officer per se.”

Anyone who has submitted an application will be provided with a unique number to log in at any time to check the status of their application as part of the programme’s computerised component.

“When you’re seeking approval, which we have to get from the local authorities, you also have one of the bugbear issues of waiting on the no-objection that comes from the local authorities,” he related.

The regulations that will set boundaries and specify the precise deadline by which a response must be submitted will be codified in the legislation.

“If the response does not come back whether it’s an objection or no objection, if the response is not given in a particular time, we will deem such a response from the NDC as no objection,” the minister underlined.

The Planning Oversight Committee, whose duties are outlined in the bill, will also be established under its provisions. It is intended that this committee will centralise duties related to planning for and developing land use, as well as issues related to those activities.

Minister Croal emphasised that the PPP/C government’s transformational agenda includes legislation, as well as efforts to make the system far more fluid and transparent for all.