Opposition’s intent was to delay, derail, frustrate enactment of two Bills passed – Finance Minister

Government will not delay the development of Guyana and Guyanese for the selfish interest of the APNU/AFC. This was made crystal clear by Senior Minister in the Office of the President with responsibility for Finance, Dr. Ashni Singh, M.P., during a press conference on Thursday.

Minister Singh made the stance of the PPP/C government known in response to a query by the media on government’s decision to not defer the Local Content and Natural Resources Fund Bills to a Special Select Committee. The historic Bills were passed in the National Assembly on Wednesday.

“Every day of delay represents a day of delayed development for Guyana and a day of delayed delivery of public good and services to the people of Guyana,” the Minister stated.

The Minister said if the main parliamentary opposition wanted to propose specific amendments to the NRF Bill, they had the latitude to do so. Added to that, the Minister noted that they also did not present any valid reason for their request.

The Finance Minister said what was even more surprising is the fact that with the Local Content Bill, 10 of 14 recommendations made by the opposition were approved. He said “even then, they were calling for the Bill to be sent to the Special Select Committee.

“It was clear to all and sundry that their intention was to not to facilitate incorporation of anybody’s views or any such thing. Their intention was to delay, frustrate and derail the enactment of these two pieces of legislation,” Minister Singh stated.

Dr. Singh further added that, “the APNU/AFC want the people to be delayed the benefits of these two pieces of legislation. That is why even though they tabled amendments to the Local Content Bill, they still insisted for it to go to a special select committee, notwithstanding they did not table a single amendment in relation to the Natural Resources Fund Bill.”

“There is no doubt in the mind of any right-thinking person that their design and intent was simply to delay, postpone and derail the enactment of these two Bills and therefore ultimately deny the Guyanese people their benefits that will flow from these two pieces of legislation.”

The Minister highlighted that while the Local Content Bill will generate business opportunities for the people of Guyana, the NRF Bill puts in place a framework for the mobilisation of the petroleum revenue being earned to advance economic development.

Minister Singh also pointed out that the NRF Bill is not an entirely new Bill.

“This is a Bill that actually replicated 21 clauses, it represents an exact replication of what was in the Act before. So, there was already a piece of legislation that was in force with which everybody was familiar and in particular in which the APNU/AFC would be familiar,” he said.

Additionally, the Minister noted that the parliamentary procedure as it relates to the submission and consideration of bills is extremely clear regarding the number of days between submission, publication and consideration.  With that, he said the procedure was followed to ensure that the bills were tabled in the stipulated timeframe.